The Premier League (PL) defending champions and treble winners, Manchester City‘s Treble Trophy Tour in India was commemorated in Kochi and Mumbai, which included the prestigious trophies of the Premier League, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup. The tour also had the presence of the Manchester City legend, Nedum Onuoha.
The Treble Trophy Tour’s India leg began on September 22 in Kochi and then moved on to Mumbai.
In the ‘City of Dreams’, Manchester City had a perfect chance to celebrate the vibrant culture of the city through the Ganpati festival in Maharashtra when the four trophies were exhibited in the vicinity of the famous G.S.B. Sarvajanik Ganeshotsava Samiti at the Shree Ram Mandir Wadala in Mumbai.
The coveted championship trophies then travelled to the Mumbai City FC (MCFC) office in the city to symbolize the close ties among the several teams that make up the City Football Group (CFG) family. The trophies arrived at Escobar in Bandra West later in the day, when Mumbai fans swarmed to see the four awards and interact with the travelling City legend.
Nedum Onuoha, who appeared in 95 matches for the club, travelled to India as a community ambassador, much like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who visited Mumbai a few months ago with Chelsea FC.
These tours to India have become one of the major sightings for local fans which then majorly promotes football thus encouraging the nation to be vested in their domestic competitions of the sport. The upcoming AFC Champions League match between MCFC and Al Hihal, which will feature Neymar Jr., is one possible big occurrence in this context. People will swarm in to witness Neymar play, who will then see our Indian footballers and may become accustomed to seeing them more frequently in the future. People will converge and fill the 55,000-capacity D.Y. Patil stadium, which will not only gain profits for the people organizing it locally but will additionally contribute to taking football in India to new heights.
Coming back to the event, SportsMint Media had the honour of speaking to Nedum Onuoha, in which we asked him about the development of football in India and “How investors may be lured into investing in Indian football?
“I think that’s a good question and I think ultimately every investor sees something different, every investor might want to buy into one thing. Maybe someone wants to buy for grassroots, maybe somebody sees the tens of thousands of people that watch the games or some might want to see their brand shown up on the sides. Some might also see a potential talent in the area where they live and would love to see one day that player playing in one of the biggest leagues in the world. Think of that moment, when all of a sudden some of the best players in the world are from South Asia that are playing in the Premier League.
“What difference that could make if you ended up being one of the people who helped create a legacy, something that will last for far beyond your years on this earth? So, it would depend on whoever the investor is but I think the bigger picture is if you have the vision to be able to see a positive future for the people of this country and those who are playing football. The potential is there because India has the numbers and can the nation turn that into the pool of talent? Because from the moment you see one, you’ll see many.”