Mallya to buy QPR stake?

The rumour of the day out of London is that Indian business tycoon Vijay Mallya is interested to buy the stakes of Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and former Renault F1 chief Flavio Briatore in English Championship club Queens Park Rangers FC. The southwest London club are currently co-owned by Ecclestone, Briatore and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal.

But in February Briatore left the day to day management of the club after having had signed and thrown out 10 managers in less then two-and-a-half years. He was not liked by the Loftus Road faithfuls and handed over the running of the club to the Mittal family where son-in-law Amit Bhatia is Vice-Chairman of QPR Holdings Limited. His personal friend Ishan Saksena has since taken over as Chairman of QPR after having been Managing Director.

And since then QPR have signed Neil Warnock as manager and this seems to have done the trick as they have had an incredible start to their Championship campaign so far topping the league with 26 points from 10 matches, eight wins and two draws with 24 goals scored and only three conceded. Surely an impressive record and something which the club will want to build on. The aim surely is to maintain the momentum and a reorganisation of the ownership of the club could help ahead of bigger things in the Premiership, if the club achieves its aim to get back into the top tier.

A couple of years ago Mallya was linked to QPR but not as a potential buyer, but for a sponsorship deal through his Kingfisher brand. But as the club had signed Gulf Air on a three year deal, the club couldn't bring on Kingfisher as a sponsor as the brand also runs an airlines under the name. But now things could change if Mallya takes over the stakes of Ecclestone and Briatore. This would lead to a strong Indian pact amongst the Mittal's and Mallya's. And so far QPR haven't really spend highly in the transfer market, which could change next summer if the club plays in the Premiership.

Mallya through his United Breweries Sports division already owns Formula 1 team Force India, Indian Premier League cricket side Royal Challengers Bangalore, has interests in horse racing plus has 50% stakes in Indian football giants East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC.

2nd FICCI Sports Summit 'Turf2010'

The 2nd FICCI Sports Summit 'Turf2010' was held on September 30/October 1 at the auditoriums of the FICCI in New Delhi. And I had the pleasure of being part of it taking about the future of Indian football in the session "Changing Face of Indian Sports", which I was also asked to moderate.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is an association of business organizations in India, headquartered in the national capital New Delhi. FICCI is one of the main organizations to fund and support many governmental and non-governmental educational institutes. And sports is one area in which the FICCI has become more proactive in recent times. Last year FICCI organised their first-ever Sports Summit and now this year the event was held just days before the Commonwealth Games.

The summit was opened by speeches from FICCI president Rajan Bharti Mittal, FICCI sports committee chairman Atul Singh, Commonwealth Games organising committee president Suresh Kalmadi, and Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Just days ahead of the games the FICCI was supportive of the organisers, but said that afterwards there would need to be a retrospection and check on accountability. India needed to learn from its mistakes otherwise they would just be a waste. And FICCI made it a point that they stand for transperancy.

The first session titled "Changing Face of Indian Sports" was headed by myself which included speeches from H.S. Kingra (Joint Secretary, Sports Authority of India; & CWG head for infrastructure), Ashwini Nachappa (Arjuna Awardee, Olympian and a former actress), Akash Jain (Director, International Development - India, NBA) and a presentation by myself to talk about football and its future.


So what do I think about what needs to be done to development Indian football in the future? I summed it up through these points:

The professionalization of administration and club management

Building of Infrastructure – Venues & training facilities

A sound young development system (grassroots, national Centre of Excellence)

Grow the fan base of football, not only international football but Indian football too

Success of Team India at the Asian level, then push for World Cup qualification.

Indian football needs a big long term aim in football. And that could be hosting the FIFA World Cup, a possible date would be 2030 with the support and backing from FIFA & the AFC. But then in the next five to seven years we need to build facilities to prove that our ambitions are serious.

The other sessions of the day were "Business Opportunity in Sports- Vision 2020", "Money, Marketing and Modern Sports" and "Sports for All". On day two there were further sessions under the titles "Sports Infrastructure: Creation & Management", "Emerging Technologies - Benefits for Sports", "Role of Media in Sports", "Creating Sports Culture in India", and then a final session as a resume of the two days of presentations and discussions. The day ended with an official dinner.

And what was the gist of all the talking? Simply put let the private industry and professionals run sports in India. The change is happening with the sporting fraternity and within two/three years things would change for good as India is developing overall as a nation. And the country will start to only accept success and perfect organisation. Many hope the Commonwealth Games will be a wake-up call for all of India and it will be heard by the right persons, so change can happen.

Then hope is what dies last...

India suffer Hongkong defeat

India suffered a lone goal defeat at the hands of Hongkong in an international friendly in Pune last night. The difference was a brilliant strike by Li Haiqiang for the East Asians. The match is part of India's preparations for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January next year.

It was a match of two halves. While the first session belonged to a strong India, the control of the match shifted to Hongkong after the breather. And once more the big worry for Bob Houghton will be the lack of goals by the striker and attacking players even after well chances created.

Bob Houghton was forced to field some of his fringe players due to injuries to Baichung Bhutia, N.P. Pradeep, Steven Dias and Mahesh Gawli. Compared to the Namibia game on September 15 there were only two changes, While Climax Lawrence replaced Pradeep, Nabi played in place of Mahesh as Anwar surprisingly took the field as he was expected to remain on the bench.

India looked good in the first session with Anthony Pereira playing a strong game on his usual right wing, numerous crosses coming in but the strikers unable to use them. At the back Gouramangi Singh was once more a dependable defender with Subrata Pal coming to his teams rescue a few times. After the break Hongkong was the stronger side and deservingly scored the winner through captain Li Haiqiang. India did try to get a late equaliser, but it was not to be.

Bob Houghton said at the post-match press conference that he was happy with the performance but not with the result. The lack of goals from the strikers in absence of Baichung Bhutia would be a growing worry, especially the lack of form of Sunil Chhetri from whom a lot is expected especially in the absence of Baichung.


Match Stats

India: 1-Subrata Pal; 17-Surkumar Singh, 19-Gouramangi Singh, 5-Anwar, 22-Syed Rahim Nabi; 28-Anthony Pereira, 30-Climax Lawrence (78' 8-Renedy Singh), 27-Mehrajuddin Wadoo (79' 6-Baldeep Singh), 25-Clifford Miranda (66' 23-Steven Dias); 9-Abhishek Yadav (66' 18-Sushil Kumar Singh), 11-Sunil Chhetri
Substitutes: 16-Arindam Bhattacharya, 2-Govin Singh, 12-Deepak Kumar Mondal

Hong Kong: 17-Tse Tak Him; 2-Lee Chi Ho, 3-Poon Yiu Cheuk, 5-Bai He, 8-Lee Hong Lim, 11-Li Haiqiang, 12-Lo Kwan Yee (61' 19-Chu Siu Kei), 15-Chan Wai Ho, 16-Leung Chun Pong (90' 14-Li Hang Hui), 18-Sham Kwak Fai (46' 4-Lee Wai Lun), 20-Ye Jia
Substitutes: 1-Li Hon Ho, 7-Sham Kwak Keung, 9-Lee Wai Lim, 13-Cheung Kin Fung

Referee: Pratap Singh (India)
Assistant Referees: Francisco Fernandes (India), Shaji Kurian (India)
Fourth Official: Arumugam Rowan (India)

Surprises in Leagues across Europe

The top leagues across Europe are five to seven weeks old, but surprisingly all seem to be not be running as per the usual script. What is such a script? An unwritten rule is that bigger club sides are in the top half of the league and smaller sides fight for survival. Lets have a look what which sides are currently on the wrong side of the league table.


England

One of the biggest surprises is that record champions FC Liverpool are amongst the bottom three of the Premier League. Off the field the Merseyside club have been problems for month's and in to days a 237 Million punds payoff will have to be made to RBS. But after a dismal last season in which the club couldn't finish amongst the top four, this year things look much worse under new coach Roy Hodgson. The club is 18th with only six points from seven games with only a win to the Reds. They will hope for better results in the coming weeks with local rivals Everton starting as bad them into the season, only that the Blues have a better goal difference.

At least at the top things are normal with champions Chelsea FC leading the pack.


Germany

The Bundesliga are the craziest of all leagues with minnows Mainz 05 on top and VfB Stuttgart bottom of the league, while last years runners-up FC Schalke 04 are second from bottom. For Stuttgart the situation seems to be a deja vu as last season too they found themselves early on in the relegation zone, but it wasn't as bad as this year. At Schalke coach Magath played puzzle in putting his new squad together to be able to challenge bigger sides in the Champions League, but it has backfired in the league as the new team haven't been able to get their act together. And their only win of the league so far was more luck then a good performance.


Spain

In the Spanish Primera Division it is the story of former La Liga champions Deportivo La Coruna. The club from Galicia have been going through tough times and they have reached the lowest low with the club winless after six games and bottom of the league. But it is early in the season, so they can work their way out of the relegation zone.


Italy

The relegation zone in the Serie A is a who is who of Italian football. Bottom of the league are Udinese Calcio, above them AS Roma and FC Parma plus just above the relegation zone are AC Florentina. All these clubs have played European competitions in recent years and would look to turn things around. But the results over the first six rounds haven't been the way these clubs would have wanted them.


France

The French league is also playing crazy. Stade Rennes are on top ahead of AS St. Etienne while RC Lens are in the relegation zone as 19th after eight rounds, while Olympique Lyonnais with a win over the weekend moved out of the relegation zone. Lyon is a regular participant in the Champions League and earlier this decade had won seven league titles in a row. While another club in AJ Auxerre moved a little away from the danger zone with a 4-0 win against bottom club AC Arles-Avignon.


But for all these clubs the season is young and chances are there to turn the season around with a series of wins. But if things continue this way until the winter then some of these clubs will have to readjust their ambitions for the 2010/11 season.

India face Hongkong test

India face Hongkong in an international friendly in Pune tonight to kick-off a series of three friendlies in 10 days. The match is part of India's preparations for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January next year. The match will kick-off at 18.00 IST at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune and the match will be shown live on Ten Action (formerly Zee Sports).

India coach Bob Houghton will have to field a new starting eleven with a number of players out due to injuries. The list includes captain Baichung Bhutia and Anwar, who both had picked-up injuries in the friendly against Namibia on September 15. Steven Dias still hasn't fully recovered from a rib injury, Samir Naik is also out as are N.P. Pradeep and Mohammed Rafi.

Bob will have to reorganise in all departments of his team except the goalkeepers position where Subrata Pal is set to start. In place of Anwar Arjuna Awardee Deepak Kumar Mondal is set to get a rare start in the heart of defence, while a recovered Syed Rahim Nabi could be back as left back. If Pradeep is out then Mehrajuddin Wadoo, who was impressive against Namibia, is likely to take his place besides stand-in captain Climax Lawrence. With Steven out Anthony Pereira will once more play in his usual right wing position while Dempo team mate Clifford Miranda is set to play on the left flank. It Rafi out Sunil Chhetri is set to get Abhishek Yadav as strike partner, who also had impressed against Namibia.

The two sides had last met in January 2009 in Hongkong in an international friendly which Hongkong had won 2-1. Last time around India had been lacking match practice, but this time it is the other way around as Bob told the-aiff.com website, "We have the advantage to be together more than our opponents. It has been three months now that the Indian team has been training together and we certainly hold the advantage."

One will have to see if India can utilise the home advantage. After the game tonight India then have two more friendlies in the coming 10 days before the squad get a break and are allowed to go home before the final Asian Cup camp. First India take on Vietnam on October 8 and then against Yemen on October 13. These matches will also be played in Pune.

October 3, 2010

October 3, 2010 is an important date for both the countries that I belong to - Germany and India. While Germany celebrate their 20th anniversary of reunification, for India it is the day that the 2010 Commonwealth Games will be inaugurated in New Delhi.

20 years ago Germans were celebrating the day that many feared would never come that the divided country would come together and be one nation again. Today Germany celebrates 20 years of being unified again and the country has gone through tough times as especially the East Germans, who were used to living in a totalitarian regime, had to adjust to the open market economy. The unified Germany has come a long way, but still steps are too be taken to make west and east equal.

For India the Commonwealth Games were supposed to make a statement that we have arrived on the world sporting stage! But especially the last month has been mainly negative news of construction delay, corruption, security concerns, a bridge collapse, a terrorist attack, an unhygienic games village, etc. And surely India could have done a better job had the concerned authorities not woken-up so late to all these problems.

But now the games are set to kick-off, so lets welcome the foreign athletes and support the Indians ones. Now it is over to sports as the Olympic saying of "participation is the biggest thing" holds key once more. India has to show itself in the best possible way despite all the problems.

And hopefully after the games there will be a big retrospection of how things were organised and run at the games. The Supreme Court has already said that it will look into matters of funding and other issues after the games. India quickly needs to learn from what all went wrong and rectify those mistakes. The key one surely is that government agencies need to hand over the organisation of such mega sporting events to professionals who understand all aspects involved. And then surely India will be able to bid for Asian Games and Olympics...

Delhi's security a nightmare

Sorry for no blog entries in the last few days. I have flown down to India to be part of the FICCI Sports Summit 'Turf 2010' here in New Delhi, so have been out all day.

And you feel the tension in town ahead of the big sporting event. We are only a day, actually hours away from the opening of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and New Delhi is on high alert. This is something very normal when such a high profile event is about to take place, but some aspects of the security set-up and implementation can only be termed ridiculous. And that is to say the least. I might be wrong, but sometimes I feel more insecure then secure, which I doubt is the intention of the security services. And if I as a half-India/half-German feel so, I bet many of the foreigners in town will feel it even more...

Certain hotels have been closed off completely for the public, only persons having a CWG2010 access card can enter such hotels. Now if this is the case then no normal guests should be allowed to stay there and only CWG2010 contingents, media, etc should stay at such hotels to avoid hassles for people.

I give you a simple example of what happened to me. I on Thursday evening wanted to meet my aunt, who was down in Delhi at her hotel and have dinner with her. I went to the hotel and said at the main entrance I came to the hotel to meet my aunt, have dinner, and go back to my own hotel. Nothing more and nothing less. Without the necessary pass I was not allowed to enter and we then tried the hotel next door, there the same issue. Due to security matters we weren't allowed in without such a CWG2010 pass. It ended with me going back to my own hotel, having my food there and my aunt eating at her hotel. We meet after about a year so it would have been nice to eat and chat, but due to the Commonwealth Games it wasn't to be.