Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and Indian Super League (ISL) club Hyderabad FC launched their two-year partnership on Thursday, stating that the focus of their relationship is going to be on youth and coach development. Indian football has previously seen ATK's partnership with Atletico Madrid, which has now shifted to Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC's acquisition of City Group. However, both Dortmund and Hyderabad FC insisted that this association was different.
Dortmund is famous worldwide for nurturing young talent and have achieved great success with their youthful contingent. Hyderabad FC are looking to gain an access to that speciality, leading to development of their youth system and local coaches. Hyderabad FC's co-owner Varun Tripuraneni said their initial focus with Dortmund is going to be on coach development.
Hyderabad FC is only a 1-year-old club while Dortmund have a rich history, a massive fan base and a gigantic global appeal. So what sold Dortmund on getting on-board with this association?
"The idea to be more connected to your country (India). Travelling for just a friendly can be one approach but not a successful one. Such a partnership shows how serious Dortmund is about the Indian market. Along with coach education, we are also looking for the teams to play each other and that won't happen without a club partnership. We are glad that Hyderabad FC are the black and yellow light for Borussia Dortmund in the country," Dortmund's managing director Carsten Cramer said in their online press conference.
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Borussia Dortmund Asia Pacific PTE. LTD's managing director Suresh Letchmanan said the German club was committed to having a mid to long-term relationship with Hyderabad FC and hence, they want the process of growth to be very organic. He further elaborated on their plan to lead with developing the coaches locally.
"We are committed to the association, along with our coaches who know the philosophy of our club. We will assess the coaches in Hyderabad and their knowledge as well. We are not here just to teach but gain knowledge as well. It is important for the Indian coaches and youngsters to come to Dortmund and experience first-hand how things are done in Germany. They will see this is more than a 9-5 job. Current situation doesn't allow us to be on ground but as soon as we can, we will get the ball rolling," he said.
"We have coaches on ground to assess the players and give them the chances. We are not saying that we will have a player playing in Bundesliga in the first 2-3 years, it has to be organic."
RESPONSIBILITIES OF BEING THE OFFICIAL CLUB PARTNER
Based on the partnership, Hyderabad FC is the official club partner of Borussia Dortmund in India. So, what are the responsibilities that come along with it for the new club? Tripuraneni said the most important thing is to connect with the community on the ground.
"The popularity of Dortmund has gone up in the last couple of years and we are a new club, completing one year in a couple of weeks from now. It is about getting involved with the community and get into CSR initiatives," Tripuraneni said.
Letchmanan hoped that this association will pave way for the "monumental opportunity" of Dortmund's first team and Hyderabad FC's first team playing each other. "But we don't want it to be just fly in and fly out. We want to engage with the community and give back to the society. There will be commitments, each one of us will have to look into," he added.
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He further said that Dortmund are looking to set footprints in the country and show the BvB way. "We want to be loved in India. There are Manchester Uniteds and Barcelonas of the world but I'm sure you can support a little Black and Yellow club."
THE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
Cramer expressed hope that Dortmund's presence in India will also bring more of Bundesliga with it. He said the three major entities of German football - Dortmund, Bayern Munich and the German national team - will the their football make a connect with the Indian people. "You need clubs and people and without physical representation, you can't reach people. This is where such a relationship helps," he said.
On exchange of technology and technicality, Letchmanan said that when it comes to youth development, Dortmund are very traditional and they hardly use any of the technological advancements. However, they have begun to have online sessions with coaches and players and it is even recorded so that it can be played later on the training ground.
With respect to the exchanges with Hyderabad FC, Letchmanan stated, "It has to start with coach to player relationship and the technological usage by the first team will not be in play right now. When you see the coach on ground, that is more personal and has more emotions involved. So right now, we will be focussing on that."
If there is one thing Dortmund are most famous for in the world, it is their 'Yellow Wall'. The atmosphere that about 25,000 dedicated fans in the south stand create at the Westfalenstadion is described as both magestic and intimidating. The Dortmund players often call it their biggest strength.
And Tripuraneni said that fan engagement is something that Hyderabad FC is eager to pick from Dortmund. He shared that people from Dortmund's fan engagement team will be visiting India to share their expertise with the unit here. He said Hyderabad's fan engagement has to be a year-round activity.
"We are to learn about Dortmund's fan culture but we still have a long way to go. Last season, without any sort of marketing, we had decent crowd and that was a positive. Also, here school are active participants in football and we have to learn to tap that."
Letchmanan further elaborated that in Dortmund, Sebastian handles fan culture internationally and so, he will be responsibility for bringing the two fan clubs together.
"It's tough to bring the 'Yellow Wall' culture in India instantly, it has to happen organically. We have to see how crowd does during ISL and right now we can't even think of having fans in stadiums. As soon as things get back to normalcy, we will have Sebastian come to India and understand the ground realities and see how it can be worked out."
Varun cleared that for the initial couple of years, Hyderabad and Dortmund's first teams will be independent of the partnership. He said their aim with this relationship is to set the right structure at the club, educate the coaches, develop the youth talent and engage with the community on the ground.
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