Football "is slowly but surely getting traction in India" and Barcelona sees the world’s second-most populous nation as a "key part" of its global expansion plans, Barça Asia Pacific Dir General Jordi Camps said, according to Sudipto Ganguly of REUTERS. Cricket-mad India, home to 1.3 billion people, is a "massive underachiever as far as football is concerned" and the country has yet to make a single appearance at a World Cup. Access to better coaching "has long been highlighted as one of the key elements needed for Indian football to develop." A number of European clubs have come to India over the last few years "to set up academies on a franchise basis in a bid to establish a foothold in a potentially huge market." Barcelona has opened three centers in the country and Camps said that "they could prove a win-win for the La Liga side and India." He said, "The growth of the Indian Super League and the success of the under-17 World Cup held in India in 2017 have been absolutely vital for the development of the sport in the country." After China "embarked on a multi-billion dollar mission to become a soccer superpower" by '50, India "followed suit with its own plan to raise its status in the game to match its burgeoning economic power." Barcelona has been in India since it opened the Barça Academy in '13. The club claims it has trained more than 25,000 young footballers through various programs (REUTERS, 1/6).
