Chelsea FC to tie-up with NBA to bring facilities to India?

I'm not a fan of Chelsea Football Club. I'm a Real Madrid fan, and in England, my favourite team is Liverpool. So when I think Chelsea, I think Luis Garcia.

That out of the way, let me move on to more pressing (and relevant) matters. Business Standard (or 'BS', as they like to be acronymed), have released a bit of news today that announcing that Chelsea FC, the English Premier League champions, are looking for a partnership with an Indian corporate house to promote "football schools, merchandise, cafes, and restaurants" and India.

But that's not all, according to this report, Chelsea is also looking to tie-up with the NBA in India to work together to set up infrastructure.

“We are looking at an anchor partner which has to be an Indian corporate house, which understands the Indian market and not a foreign MNC. It is through this route that we plan to enter India and set up our football schools and franchise our brand,” said Ben Wells, head of marketing of the Chelsea Football Club.

Chelsea is also in talks with the US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) to jointly set up schools — having facilitates for both football and basketball. “There is no clash between these two and as NBA is already in India, we are open to talks with them to build the infrastructure” said Wells.

More good news for football and basketball fans in India... I can't wait till the day when I wake up, switch on a news channel, and I don't see a bunch of cricketers whining about bookies, 99-not-outs, and having to actually run a little from time to time.