French Football Pitches India For Corporate Investment

The World Cup triumph has boosted the French football industry and Didier Quillot, CEO of France’s Ligue de Football Professional (LFP), firmly believes that French football with stars such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar is an attractive proposition for Indian corporations.

Both Quillot and Jean-Martial Ribes, head of communications at France’s richest football club, Paris Saint-Germain, were more than happy to term the fast-growing Indian market a “top priority”.

“We have now international investors from America and China. The value of Ligue 1 is increasing, and I strongly believe that it is the right time to invest in France because the momentum is here,” said Quillot.

“I think there are clubs who are looking for new shareholders, with cash capacity and marketing experience. India is our top priority along with the US and China. There is so much to do in football in India, we want to help. We can bring to India expertise in terms of academies, players and coaching,” he added.

PSG’s Ribes echoes a similar philosophy and did not rule out a friendly in India if that helps in growing a fanbase across the nation. “For us, the Indian market is very important, the potential is massive. The problem is the game is really not developed yet (in India). We are looking very closely to what the Indian clubs are doing and we will probably advance progressively,” he said.

The Qatar-owned club’s prior India projects did not quite take off in the manner the management would have desired. “We did not find it easy to develop the academies. It is one of the top markets but not an easy one to break into. We need the right partners,” Ribes added. “Someday, it will be great to have a PSG shop in Bombay or Delhi. We have sponsors from China, Indonesia and the United States of America. It would be great for us to have access to sponsors in India or Indian people representing our brand. There are very big companies in India but we need to have the access and right now, what we are missing is the access.”

Compared to the English Premier League (EPL), Bundesliga and La Liga, Quillot admitted the French league is still in the chasing pack. “The aspiration is to increase the value of Ligue 1. In terms of domestic TV rights we are at par with La Liga, Bundesliga and above Serie A. We need to improve our performance in Champions League.”

“We need to improve our value outside France. In terms of economics, I think we are catching up. In terms of quality of infrastructure, we are up there, with brand new stadiums being built in places like Bordeaux and Marseille before Euro 2016,” Quillot told Indian media last week.

Presently, the highest profile deal involves Mumbai-based Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT), which specialises in manufacturing off-highway tyres for heavy industrial vehicles, backing the Coupe de la Ligue (League Cup) till the 2023/24 tournament for about US$3.4m per season.