Sandro Rosell’s plan in motion
It is pretty evident that FC Barcelona has a lot of catching up to do on securing a slice of the Asian market to the likes of EPL powerhouses, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. And to some extend even Real Madrid does better here because of its past successes. But with more than half a decade of consistent hegemony over the footballing world, it could all change if the club plays its cards right. As declared by its president, Sandro Rosell, at a football conference in Dubai recently, FC Barcelona is going to have to look at new and emerging markets to generate new income, and one of the relatively virgin markets, in footballing terms, is India.
It is with this in mind that the club set up the first of its 60 [open-day] schools, FCB EScola, in the country’s capital city, New Delhi, today. The club hopes to attract upwards of 10,000 children and youths to sign up for the sessions.
Three Barcelona footballing coaches set up base in the city to deliver the first batch of training sessions, which in its first day welcomed 360 young enthusiasts aged between 8 and 14 years, including 60 girls.
Taught to these participants were not just the sports components of the game but also the human values that the club prides itself in.
“We recognise them not just as players but as people, and try to transmit values such as respect, teamwork and solidarity in the session,” said Aleix Gibert, one of the coaches.
Over the next three years, Barcelona intends to organise some twenty such schools annually in various parts of this huge country, where football is a minority sport, except in some areas, especially the city of Calcutta, although that is changing.
“More and more young people and children have chosen this sport over cricket,” stressed the head of the local organiser, Anu Jain.
“India is an emerging country and because of its large population it attracted us, but our first priority now is for the children to be familiar with this sport and its training,” said the club’s director of the school of football, Xevi Marcé. “We comb the country to see the level of football that’s present, its culture and customs, then make a specific training plan for this country.”
India is the second country visited by the club after the inaugural launching of the project in Seoul, South Korea a month ago.
Source: Reuters, Sport.es; Image credit: EFE
Team Iniesta!
Thumbs up if your team INIESTA!!!
Me Me!!! Definitely team iniesta!!
Team Xavi!!!
for me it's Team… the inevitable Xavi
team XAVI rocks! <3
Hey come on Rosell, its a good step and i am glad Indians are getting a chance!!! But as a Pakistani i believe FC Barcelona as an organization should also look for talent in my country too
Cheers!!!
they will, dey be taking over de world
Amen to that brother!!!
wats with all you pakistanis.. why its always india..watever india gets you all cry for yourself.. get a life..!
I am actually glad that Indians are getting a chance!!! And i m just speaking for my country , its not a crime!!!
True dat
Team Xavi all the way!
With you all the way!
TEAM XAVI!
TEAM INDIA.
Sort of on topic:
On the topic of garnering worldwide attention and having special events, why doesn't anyone try to organize a charity match, with the World's two best 11s against each other? No, I am actually asking because I don't know. Is it not allowed, or the players themselves wouldn't do it, or it would cost too much? Just imagine, for example, two teams, each equal in quality, each pitted against each other, so that the 22 best players in each position in the world are on the field. For example:
Ronaldo-Villa-Robben
Xavi-Ozil-Silva
Evra-Puyol-T.Silva-Alves
Valdes
VS
Rooney-RVP-Messi
Iniesta-Cesc-Sneijder
Marcelo-Pique-Vidic-Maicon
Casillas
Don't flame me on the lineups, they are just examples, I wrote them quickly. But anyway, the two best 11s in the world, with similar amounts of total talent, and with players from the same club/national teams seperated as much as possible. Imagine seeing these two teams against each other! Imagine how many tickets would be sold, and how expensive each ticket would be – then the money could go to Fifa for football related improvements, or to the clubs of the players, or to charity, or wherever. So my question is, why has this never happened? I know there are sometimes charity matches such as "Messi and friends vs the world" or something, but never with such famous players. I would give anything to see a match like this.
i agree with you. would be an amazing game showcasing talents worldwide (apart from clasico) and it will surely revenue much income.
i would give casillas place for neuer…
This is 10 years late BUT as they say "It's Better Late than Never"
India and China just by their sheer numbers are going to be crucial in any teams marketing strategies.
A lot of people hate Rossell for cashing in, but I commend him for doing this. Asia is such a lucrative market and the club should capitalize on that. If they want to generate more money, then they have to branch their brand. They have to make certain adjustments in order to reach out these potential markets. If they want to sell more merchandise, open a more accessible online/ store like in HK or Singapore. If they want to show their tiki-taka, they should send someone and show how it's done. Don't only send Messi but also include another player like Xavi, Cesc, Pique, Puyol, David Villa, Iniesta to visit various Asian countries. And I hope Barca could play their game much earlier, even for twice in the entire season. And I hope Liga can compel each team to do that . Here in the Philippines, Liga is not really well known, except for some. Mostly, EPL games are shown on both free and cable channel. Cable sports channels air them almost simultaneously, replay them almost everyday, even the classic FA games are now being aired during mornings. Although one local channel had their initial telecast of liga game by showing the clasico but it was 5am!!! Other Liga games could only be watched via live internet streaming, strating from 2am. I usually watch Barca games around that time. I could watch EPL games at 10 pm. To think, our time difference with Spain is 7hours, while in London, it's 8hours.
Anyways, I just hope this would work out. It will not only benefit the team but mostly their Asian fans.
You are absolutly correct..
In India even thoung cricket is the most followed game there are lots of football fans. Football is not marketed well in india.. Hope this is will be a good initiative..
Nigeria is nice place with a well talented young player.so we need u.
Team BARCELONA !!!!!
Where is Team Messi? :*
we need barca in Ghana, because we have abundance of talent and also cules,here in Ghana and africa
This is awesome! If only Barca could also go to Nepal, where I first played football (made of plastics, an old sock and tied threads) There are young kids with talent, but, unfortunately, politicians in Nepal are too busy taking bribe and feeding their family, youngsters have no opportunities to expose their talent.
I will help market Barca in Nigeria AT NO COST! Rosell, over to u really.
*alert* Nigerian SCAM!
Rubbish! Beware of libellous stuff.
come to Ghana rossel, we need you and barca.
I'm from INDIA! & I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo happy to hear about this!!
I agree cricket is the most followed sport in India, but if u look only at cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Goa it is changing every second
Manchester United and Chelsea has a huge fan base here.. followed by Arsenal and Liverpool
But then there are many fans of Barcelona too..! According to a poll "In India 80% of people who follow an english team have Barcelona as their second favorite!"
And then there are people like me who BREATHE BARCA!
Lot of football fans in kerala too.. Even thoough most of the fans are for EPL teams there are lots of people following Barca now.. Timings are the big issue (Not a big problem for me, though)… here La Liga matches starts after midnight.. If match timings are simillar to EPL then LaLiga fan base will increase…
OT : Messi from the airport to the training
you will find the picture here http://www.barca4ever.com/forum/showthread.php?11…
if someone asked why messi is the best player in the whorl this is the reaso nhttp://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/image_gallery/messi-from-the-aeroport-to-the-ciutat-esportiva
amazing he just arrived in barcelona at night and went straight to train alone!!
http://media1.fcbarcelona.com/media/asset_publics…
totally agree! this is great! I come from a school in Delhi which had mostly footballers (as compared to cricketers!) and I wish my friends had had this opportunity! Too late for us but awesome for the kids now! Hope more clubs come and help train our kids! As a diehard Barca fan I am super excited abt this!
as an indian…..i am very happy! thanks to barca
Im starved of barcelona matches in india. EPL timings are good but barcelona matches mostly come late in night and i am not able to watch them. I depend on youtube and allas to see barcelona's beauty.
And yeah- football rules over cricket.
Would be great if they come to mumbai… But I wont b able to participate though….
Want to attract indian market, start a barca cricket team and fill it with indian talents.
They should really market themselves in countries like Malaysia,Singapore and hong kong. Alot of fans there but can be bigger if they attract ppl.
Welcome Barca to beautiful country Nepal.
bohoohoo! I can't go to Delhi!
I think Nepal and Indonesia is the only major countries in Asia that has the more Barca fans.By the way although i have been following Total Barca for past 2 years and still update myself 2 times a day this is the first time i have written a comment.
I really feel for those Barcelona Fans that’re in Far and Middle East Asia ..e.g India, China, Singapore and so on that can’t view the matches …even here in Nigeria, fans don’t view Barca matches so often because of the timing …would really love Rosell or LFP to put some Barca matches maybe a quarter in the Afternoons as soon as possible, Spain is GMT+2 so that won’t be much of a problem…thank You