Indian fans' loyalty is based on players they follow: LaLiga India head

By Vishesh Roy
New Delhi [India], March 8 : In what comes as an interesting observation, LaLiga India head Jose Antonio Cachaza has said loyalty of Indian fans when it comes to the game of football is based on individuals and not the national teams or clubs.
In an interaction with ANI, Jose gave his take on how India looks at football and how the outlook is starting to change with the onset of the Indian Super League (ISL). The LaLiga India head also said there are two ways to look at the perspective of the Indian fans.
"Players come and go, they age and retire. Lionel Messi is 34, we need to look ahead. India in particular looks at football through stars, not so much with clubs. It is a good way to come to the club, as a fan, I love many players, but in the end, the fun is when you follow a club or national team because football is a team sport. Players come and go, leagues and competitions stay and get renovated constantly," Cachaza told ANI.
The ongoing LaLiga season has provided thrills to fans and it has seen a sudden charge of Atletico Madrid and Sevilla. Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid is currently at the top of the standings with 59 points from 25 matches while Sevilla is at the fourth spot.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are at the second and third spot respectively and both teams are fighting hard to win the LaLiga 2020-21 season.
"It has to be just another step. First of all, it has been a difficult situation for everybody, for LaLiga, for any other sports league. It is probably not the best year for our top teams, but the good side of that is it has given opportunities to other teams like Atletico Madrid and Sevilla. Both Atletico and Sevilla, they not only have names but they are playing beautiful football as well," said the LaLiga India head.
"We cannot rely on the success of one club in one season. It has to be long-term work. The biggest challenge of LaLiga not this year, but the previous years has been the unpredictability that was there back in the day. Now, anyone can win or upset anyone and that is good for any competition," he added.
When asked whether LaLiga clubs could look to develop projects in India to further strengthen their brand image, Cachaza said: "What I can say we are working with a number of LaLiga clubs who want to develop projects in India. They can be tying up with clubs in ISL or I-League. But also, another way is to tie up for trying to develop school projects in India.
"You have the sample of Barcelona or LaLiga schools, I cannot say it's striving now, it was striving before the pandemic and I am pretty sure that it will strive after the pandemic. Many Spanish clubs are looking at that, they know developing projects would help them in increasing their brand profile here," he signed off.