New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) La Liga on Saturday celebrated its third anniversary in India, a country where cricket dominates but is increasingly seeing more people interested in soccer with the help of promotional events and soccer schools developed by the Spanish association which holds first and second division championships.
“We have completed three years in India … accomplishing our sport and commercial objectives,” said La Liga president Javier Tebas in a statement during an event at Instituto Cervantes in the Indian capital, reports Efe news agency.
“To all our fans in India, who follow us through Facebook and other platforms, keep following us because we will continue offering passion in our sport,” Tebas said about the millions of followers that they have gained through the social media platforms for Spain’s top division soccer league.
A broadcast partnership was signed with Facebook in 2018, to stream 380 Spanish league matches for free in India, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
La Liga has reached millions of followers across different social media platforms in the region, including 4 million in India through Facebook and another million through Instagram, the statement added.
“India has been a priority market for us since several years, but being here and engaging directly with fans and stakeholders regularly has reinforced the potential and the astounding zeal this country possesses,” José Antonio Cachaza, managing director of La Liga India, said.
“Being in such a dynamic market, it has been critical to constantly evolve, adapt and come forward with innovative and clutter-breaking ideas for our existing and potential fans and with the new decade upon us, we look forward to doing exactly that.”
With this dual objective, commercial and football promotion, La Liga, in these three years has been involved in grassroots development programs including a soccer-schools project carried out in 14 cities that has reached more than 10,000 students so far.
It is also involved in an initiative in southern India in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation to promote women’s soccer among the most economically vulnerable population of the region which has seen the participation of 2,000 young people.
Moreover, several sporting events have also been organized by the institution, which have been attended by more than 50,000 people.
In tow with La Liga, several Spanish soccer clubs have also shown interest in the Indian market and have developed initiatives in the country including Sevilla, Betis and Celta de Vigo, which participate in the projects in schools.
–IANS
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