The Indian football governing council, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced a new sponsorship alliance with India’s largest and most preferred passenger airline, IndiGo.
With this deal, the brand has become a global partner and the official airline for the Indian Football Team. The AIFF and IndiGo agreement has already begun on September 1, 2023, and will conclude on August 31, 2024.
Given that football is one of the most popular sports in India and IndiGo has the largest market share there, this collaboration is of greater significance as AIFF work to bring fans together and support the development of the game.
The extensive network of IndiGo is expertly planned to accommodate the various travel needs of the team’s players, officials, and support personnel. The squad will be able to concentrate entirely on their game, free from travel worries, courtesy of IndiGo’s thorough route map, which promises smooth and fast travel throughout all competitions, domestic and international.
The AIFF discovers in IndiGo a trustworthy and encouraging travel companion who shares their enthusiasm for the game. IndiGo is also sponsoring the Indian women’s football unit, helping to advance women’s sports equality. This alliance strengthens the connection between the Indian national teams and their millions of supporters by enabling them to represent their country with pride and distinction on the world stage. The Blue Tigers and Blue Tigresses will be carried by IndiGo.
AIFF, President, Mr Kalyan Chaubey, said, “It is indeed a pleasure for the All India Football Federation to partner with IndiGo. During my travels with IndiGo, I was impressed with the service and professionalism of the airline. Being the country’s largest airline, we consider this as IndiGo’s first sports partnership. We are really honoured and happy. With a population of 1.4 billion, is the fifth largest economy in the world. People say it’s a cricket nation, but I often say it’s a cricket-watching and a football-playing nation.
“It’s a mass sport, as every kid, you will find, is playing football. With this young population and this growing economy, we have partnered with IndiGo who can show leadership in the Indian airline market as well as in sports, where leaders from both organisations have also come up with a similar vision. I would request IndiGo to support us in every possible way and take this partnership and football forward together.”
AIFF, Secretary General, Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, said, “It’s a historic day for Indian football. The airline IndiGo is flying high, and I’m sure with this partnership, we will only fly high. We wish you will always be the market leader. We believe it’s a great occasion that has never been seen in Indian football history. We never had a collaboration with any airline before; that is truly historic. I’m sure that this partnership will take Indian football to greater heights and we will work together to take football to a level whereby the world will look at us as we are flying very high with our collaboration.
“We will be there, be blue, and the Blue Tigers will take us to the skies and paint blue across and we will make India proud with this partnership. The vision is very clear: we want to be in the incredible state of sport in India, get the attention of the world, and be the biggest talent hub in the world. Maybe one day, we will be exporting in big numbers, and we will use your airline to export those talents as we fly high.”
IndiGo, CEO, Pieters Elbers, said, “We are thrilled to embark on this journey with the All India Football Federation, as both organizations share a common vision of advancing Indian football to new heights. This marks the start of an official partnership for AIFF, while for IndiGo, it represents our inaugural foray into the world of sports. Together, we are committed to a long-term collaboration that will not only elevate the sport but also touch the lives of fans across the nation.
“We aim to provide the Indian Football Team with IndiGo’s well-established strengths: on-time performance, hassle-free service at affordable fares across our unparalleled network both domestically and internationally.”