Borussia Dortmund eyeing India tour in near future

Borussia Dortmund CEO Carsten Cramer has revealed that the Bundesliga side plans to visit India soon for a tour.

Die Borussen have established a significant presence across Asia over the years with their preseason tours and international training academies.

Just last month, the BVB had traveled to Japan for their warmup games and bolstered their footprints in the country.

In November last year, they also opened up training facility for young prospects in South Korea, having also previously done so in Xiamen and Beijing in China.

However, another giant Asian market like India remains untapped. Despite its massive population and fierce football fanaticism, no Bundesliga team has a footprint in the country yet.

Dortmund CEO Carsten Cramer joked during his interaction with Indian media house NDTV that he hasn’t received an invitation from anyone in India yet.

“You didn’t invite me yet. If you would send me an invitation, I would seriously consider to come to India.”

He further added that BVB’s management hasn’t figures out yet what’s the right time to visit the country.

“When is the right moment to make the first step into India. But from a club perspective of a club like Dortmund, whenever we make a first step, we know that a second and third have to follow.”

Cramer hints that if Dortmund were to visit India, it wouldn’t be solely for the purpose of a friendly game. The Bundesliga giants wants to see if there’s a potential for a establishing a long-term relevance, perhaps in the form of setting up academies.

“What we definitely don’t do is that we jump into a market without a sustainable approach and target. And to define the right moment when to make the first step means, of course, that we have to make more investment to reach a sustainable appearance and relevance in your country. And that is a question I am not able to answer. I always discuss it with my guys.””

He also added that the club has actively been discussing about India with their South Asian personnel.

“To be really honest, our guy who is running the Southeast Asian office, Suresh Letchmanan, he has a really, really high affinity to the Indian market. We are always discussing, arguing and considering should we go there or should we not. I still have a dream to come to India. But in the moment we come to India, we have to be there permanently.”