FC Bayern Munich to face Team India on January 10

German Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich announced at an official press conference in New Delhi that they will take on the Indian national football team in a charity match on January 10, 2012 which will also mark the farewell of now former India captain Baichung Bhutia. The match will be played under the title of Audi Football Summit with the German carmaker being not only the sponsors, but also the organisers of the match along with the AIFF.

The press conference at the Leela Palace in New Delhi was attended by Bayern Munich advisor and club legend Paul Breitner, AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das along with Audi India's MD Michael Perschke and Head of Marketing Clemens Ollmert. Baichung Bhutia sadly could not attend as he could not fly into Delhi on Friday, but he was live at the press conference through a telephone link.

The date of the match was known since mid-Otober when the game was first announced, but now more information has been revealed by the organisers. The match will be shown on TenAction+ with the Hindustan Times as the official media partner of the game. A ticketing partner would be revealed by the coming week with the organisers hoping for a packet Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on January 10, 2012.

Paul Breitner announced that Bayern Munich would come with all their first team stars like Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez. Further the 1974 World Cup winner said that Bayern would come to India to win the game and it would be highly beneficial for Indian football to learn from the big and developed football nations and clubs.

The proceeds of the match will go to the victims of the devastating earthquake that rocked Sikkim in September 2011.

More to come in the coming days...