Indian Super League football club Delhi Dynamos are currently in Qatar for preseason training, and in a bid to further strengthen ties with the host country, the visitors held a cultural gathering in Doha on Sunday.
The event hosted at the Torch Hotel was an opportunity for the Dynamos camp to meet, interact and network while forming new relationships with key stakeholders and players in the country and the Arab region.
Indian Ambassador to Qatar P. Kumaran said India and Qatar share an important and historic partnership.
“India enjoys a healthy and thriving relationship with Qatar and in the area of sport it is constantly growing as more opportunities of cooperation are sprouting. Last year Indian Sports Center was started, and it has allowed India to offer support to Qatar in its various thriving major sporting event hosting,” Kumaran said.
“We have seen top international events held here in Qatar, such as the 2006 Asian Games, the World Indoor Athletics Championships, the Qatar Tennis Open and the Doha Diamond League, annual events the country hosts successfully with Indian community in Qatar playing a role. It is exciting that Delhi Dynamos FC has chosen to work with Aspire Academy from Qatar in terms of football development.
“Qatar and Aspire Academy have sound and proven record and ability to deliver excellence in sport and this partnership is set to achieve a lot and strengthen further the excellent relationship between our two countries,” Kumaran added.
Speaking at the event, Delhi Dynamos FC owner, Dr. Anil Sharma highlighted the growing bond between Qatar and the ISL side. He chronicled the short history of Delhi Dynamos, how he formed the club and the reasons for doing so.
“While living in the United States l was among several Indians who each time the major world sporting competitions, like the FIFA World Cups and Olympics took place, we found ourselves, disappointed and complaining of India’s absence or limited success at sports other than cricket,” Sharma said.
“India is a young country. About 850 million Indians are below age of 35 and 500 million are below age of 21. India has more than 50% of its population below 25 and more than 65% below age of 35. It is expected that in 2020 the average age of an Indian will be 29, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan. These numbers are simply staggering, and l had to invest in a venture that will support the youth of India,” he added
“Corporate Social Responsibility was the bedrock of my investment philosophy in India up until founding Delhi Dynamos. It was during some general discussion with my son, Rohan, who has immense passion for sport he played and followed while growing up in USA that it occurred to me that if l wanted to see India do well on international sports stage l had to stop complaining and get involved and that’s how l founded Delhi Dynamos”, said Dr. Sharma.
Delhi Dynamos entered a ground breaking technical partnership with the Aspire Academy last year, 2017. The world-renowned Doha-based Academy is sharing its football know-how and management expertise with the ISL club at all levels of the football at Delhi Dynamos FC. Since the start of the collaboration, Aspire Academy has been supporting Delhi Dynamos FC in various areas including coaching, training, scouting and sports science.
Aspire Academy Director General, Ivan Bravo, spoke of the hallmark of pursuing excellence throughout every aspect of a football club. “After we entered into a partnership with Delhi Dynamos we emphasized our firm belief in youth development as the core of any future success. I am pleased to say our partners are even at this early stage beginning to see our thinking in this regard. Recently a few of Delhi Dynamos young players have been called up to Indian National U-16 side and the U-23 national team. This bodes well for the future of club.”
“Aspire is pleased to welcome back Delhi Dynamos here at Aspire for a training camp and we embrace this great opportunity to strengthen the fruitful relationship that we have been building since 2017. Football is a fast-growing sport in India and Aspire Academy is honored to be part of this phenomenon by sharing our know-how with Delhi Dynamos FC right through its entire football operations at the club: From the logistics to operations of the club onto the development of youth players and the running of the senior team.”
Sunday’s function was also attended by Jorge Antonio Seré Sturzenegger, Ambassador of Uruguay in Qatar, Dr R Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, Mohamed Bukhari, Chairman of Indian Sports Centre, Habibun Nabi, Indian Sports Centre General Secretary, Ivan Bravo, Aspire Academy Director General, Jassim al-Jaber, Aspire Academy school principal, Josep Gombau, Delhi Dynamos FC Head Coach and dignitaries from Qatar. The entire squad of Delhi Dynamos were also present.
Indian Ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran poses with Indian Super League football club Delhi Dynamos FC owner Dr. Anil Sharma, Aspire Academy Director General Ivan Bravo and Delhi Dynamos team at an event at the Torch Hotel.
