Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund (BVB) and Indian Super League Club Hyderabad FC (HFC) have entered into a two-year partnership with an option to extend for an additional three years until 2025.

BVB, renowned for its success and specialization in nurturing and developing young players, will focus on building and supporting Hyderabad with its academy structure and coaching education. The partnership will also include BVB’s expertise in technology to drive innovation; enhance connectivity between the clubs, and positively grow and expand its fan base. 

HFC will look to make the most of Dortmund’s know-how in setting up their youth infrastructure and in turn help the German outfit in extending their footprint across India. 

“It is important for a club like us to do the right thing from the beginning. This partnership with BVB is a step towards that. It will help us learn and understand how they have built a strong brand across the world and the key ingredients required to set up a robust youth programme. It is important to revive the history of football of Hyderabad. Hopefully, benefitting from this partnership we will have a few representations in the Indian national team as well. The vision of the two clubs are similar and it goes beyond just the black and yellow colours. This will hopefully benefit both the clubs,” stated Varun Tripuraneni, co-owner of Hyderabad , during a webinar.

It is understood that there will be coaching and fan engagement webinars conducted by BVB to help the ISL side. One goalkeeping coach is also likely to fly down to India and there will be players who shall travel to Germany utilising the partnership to get a first-hand experience to learn the best practices. 

Carsten Cramer, managing director of BVB, made it amply clear that this is not a short-term partnership with instant gains in mind. But, the club will look to involve the community at large to make it a more effective venture for both parties in the medium and long-term. 

“We always look at long-term objectives. We will assess the coaches at Hyderabad FC and guide them through the whole programme. Hyderabad is not looking for success in the short term and they have a long term vision to build their own identity. The identity is built by young players who go on to play for the club. BVB will help them in doing that.

“People will love a club when the young players perform at the highest stage. We should look to involve as many people as possible from the community. The current situation does not allow us to be on the ground but we will be doing that as soon as it permits. Without the partnership, no one would believe that we have a serious interest in the region,” he stated 

While BVB is keen on helping the Indian club to spot and nurture future talents, they are not looking for their next superstar from this enterprise. 

“The two primary pillars of this partnership are fan engagement and youth programmes. We are not looking for the next superstar of Bundesliga from this project. We want to give the youngsters a chance to train in Dortmund. Our coaches will look at how capable they are in playing with their European counterparts. With this partnership, we want to plant a flag in India and bridge the two cultures. This gives us the perfect opportunity. 

“We want to have a bigger presence in India. We will be pushing our own merchandise. We will be pushing more through the media. We want to build more with Indian brands those who want to collaborate with us. So, we want to be visible and seen in India and at the same time be loved as well,” said Suresh Letchmanan, BVB APAC (Asia Pacific) managing director. 

Tripuraneni also informed that Hyderabad will be looking to inaugurate a fully residential academy by the end of next season and this agreement with BVB will be a major help in realising that project. Moreover, BVB’s fan-engagement expert is also expected to come down to India and work with Hyderabad so that both the clubs can build their brands across the length and breadth of the country.