Atletico Madrid expand network into India after establishing affiliation with I-League side | OneFootball

Networking in football has become very common over the last decade. Several teams have established affiliations with clubs from across the globe, with the most notable case being Manchester City’s City Group, which seems to be growing by the year.

Atletico Madrid are hoping to do something similar. They recently established a link with Mexican side Atletico San Luis, and they have now extended their network into India. As MD have reported, Atletico have partnered with I-League side Inter Kashi. The two teams will launch an academy together, named Atletico Bharat.

Atletico have previously done business in India, having had a strategic partnership with Atletico Kolkata. However, that ended a few years ago.

Carlos Santamarina, the Spanish coach that manages Inter Kashi, admitted that he is very exciting by the partnership between his club and Atletico.

“We have a big disadvantage because we started from scratch. Once the first step is taken, we will be talking to people from Madrid (for the academy). The technical support of the academy will be provided by Atletico Madrid.”

“The main thing is the academy, which will involve teaching the kids and teaching the coaches. Atletico Madrid don’t think short-term.”

Atletico Madrid will hope that it is a partnership that proves to be very beneficial in the long run. India is an untapped market for most of Europe, so they could see a major upside from this agreement.