29 November,2019 07:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Ronald Chettiar
ISL chairperson Nita Ambani with Man City CEO Ferran Soriano yesterday. Pic/ Suresh Karkera
In a watershed moment for Indian football, City Football Group (CFG), who own English Premier League champions Manchester City, on Thursday agreed to a deal to acquire majority shares in Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC.
CFG bought a majority 65 per cent stake in the club while Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and businessman Bimal Parekh will hold the remaining 35 per cent shares.
The news of the acquisition was revealed by ISL chairperson Nita Ambani and CFG CEO Ferran Soriano.
"Today we welcome a global football powerhouse to India, to ISL and Indian football. I am delighted and proud to announce that the City Football Group has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai City FC," Ambani announced.
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Soriano added: "We have been looking at ISL and Indian football for more than 18 months. We have been sending scouts to view the status of Indian football. Now we need to learn about the club and in two or three months, we will draw up a plan which will be both short-term as well as long-term to see how we can help Mumbai City FC in the coming decade."
Mumbai City FC CEO Indranil Das Blah said that the focus of the deal was purely to add value to Indian football more than anything else.
"The focus [of the deal] was on how we can improve football in the city. CFG felt that they can add a lot of value from the football point of view. The central pillar of this association is improving football in the city. Then hopefully, have an effect on the national team," Blah said.
Other clubs owned by CFG include New York City, Melbourne City, Yokohama F Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiunia in China.
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