By Mark Baber
September 23 – In an encouraging move for Indian football, telecoms giant Airtel signed up as title sponsor of the 2013-14 edition of the I-League, just hours before the 13-team league kicked off on Saturday.
The I-League has faced crisis in recent months with teams having dropped out, the opening games not being broadcast due to the official broadcaster TEN Sports relocating their operations from Dubai to Noida, and the prospect of the new ‘IPL-Style’ competition casting a shadow over the long-term prospects for the league.
The Airtel deal was greeted with relief by All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel who said: “I welcome Airtel as the new Title Sponsor of the I-League. All India Football Federation stays committed for the upliftment of the sport in the country and we hope this marks the beginning of a new and long relationship.”
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said: “The deal between AIFF and Airtel proves there are many takers for Indian Football. I welcome them to the I-League.”
Ashu Jindal, COO of IMG-Reliance, AIFF’s marketing partner, said: “I’m happy to have Airtel as the Title Sponsor. This is a hugely motivating step for Indian Football.”
League CEO Sunando Dhar was equally positive saying: “This is very inspiring. Having Airtel as the Title Sponsor would provide the right impetus for the I-League.”
Whilst IMG-Relieance have been criticised for setting up their new franchise-based competition on a cricket-style model, the irony of the new deal is that it comes just days after Airtel decided not to renew their home series sponsorship deal with the Indian Board of Control for Cricket.
Airtel is the world’s fourth largest and India’s largest mobile telephony company and second largest in fixed telephony. It operates primarily as a marketing, sales and finance company with other business operations outsourced to companies such as Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and IBM.
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