The 4th International Frankfurt Football Summit 2018 was held on Tuesday, September 4 at the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt, Germany with ‘Indian Football,’ a topic for the first-time ever.

The football conference which was initiated in 2015 takes into account the increasing internationalization of football and, as the International Frankfurt Football Summit, addressed the economic and media challenges of football.

At the International Frankfurt Football Summit, the topics ‘New markets in football business,’ ‘Marketing in the digital age,’ and ‘Professionalization of structures,’ were discussed at length.

In Session II of the day, the focus stayed the United States and India under the title ‘Perspectives from abroad: Lessons learned from leagues in different markets.’

All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das addressed the high-profile national and International delegates during a 30-minute panel discussion which also featured football consultant Mr. Arunava Chaudhuri. The session was moderated by German sports TV host Jochen Breyer.

Mr. Das informed about the current state of football in India including the league structure, the rise of the Indian National Team and the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, besides explaining the importance and the potential which India offers to European Clubs and Federations in the context of their Internationalization strategies.

Mr. Das also highlighted the efforts of the All India Football Federation to give the best possible exposure to its National Teams and the recent success of the youth national teams including the impressive 2-1 win of the India U-20s against Argentina.

The AIFF General Secretary suggested that European clubs should think about signing Indian talents at an age of 16 to 18 to nurture them into quality players which could play in the top tiers of European club football, which would also result in a higher standard of the various Indian National Teams.

The panel discussion on Indian football was followed by various high-profile stakeholders such as Christian Seifert, CEO, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga (Bundesliga) and Mark Abbott, President & Deputy Commissioner, Major League Soccer (MLS), besides representatives from clubs, federations and media companies. The post-panel discussions underlined the serious interest of various German stakeholders, especially the Bundesliga and its clubs, to create a sustainable bridge between Indian and German football.

The International Frankfurt Football Summit concluded late afternoon with a panel discussion featuring Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup winning captain and designated UEFA EURO 2024 LOC CEO Philipp Lahm, who shared his thoughts on leadership in sports and business.

The one-day #FootballSummit was organised by Convent Kongresse GmbH, a company of the ZEIT publishing group, in cooperation with the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL).

(Photo courtesy: Andreas Henn / Die Zeit)

Thanks to @conventkongress for having #AIFF General Secretary #KushalDas, @Arunfoot & me at the #FootballSummit 2018. It was an excellent event with quality panels which offered great insight for all stakeholders in attendance. #IndianFootball #CPDFootball #arunfoot pic.twitter.com/4AkkB4sjoj

— Chris Punnakkattu D. (@cpdfootball) 5. September 2018