Tata trusts game for U sports’ football plan

MUMBAI: Ronnie Screwvala’s sports business U Sports has got Tata Trusts on board as a sponsor for its ambitious football training programme, U Dream Football.

U Sports and Tata Trusts will together spend close to ¤20 million (about Rs 145.6 crore) in the next five years, on training talented Indian children, and give them an opportunity to pursue a career as professional footballers.

Supratik Sen, CEO at U Sports, told ET that the company has identified 35 children from the northeastern states, who will be sent to Germany for training.

He said U Dream Football aims to identify talent at an early stage, between 12-14 years, and offer international training, academic and infrastructure support to help them advance as professional footballers. "Between us and Tata Trusts, we are going to spend ¤2.5-4 million per year. Over next five years, our total spending will be close to ¤20 million for the sport," Sen said.

USports has partnered with various clubs like Germany’s Bundesliga and other European football leagues, which will help the children get access and visibility in places like Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Holland and the UK.

U Sport will also launch U Dream Football Centres of Excellence in India in Aizawl (Mizoram), Imphal (Manipur), and Chandigarh. Later, it will add such centres in Goa, Mumbai and Kerala to work towards building a holistic ecosystem for football, thereby developing 70-100 top level coaches for India.