Spanish League looks to get Indian fans hooked

Hyderabad: With the likes of Lionel Messi and Eden Hazard in their ranks, the Spanish football league is making a big push in India with all its games going live on Facebook.

“All matches in La Liga Santander will be shown live on Facebook. Our 3.7 million fans can even catch up with pre-and-post match analysis there,” said Jose Antonio Cachaza, managing director of LaLiga India, adding there are about 8 million FB fans in the Sub-continent.

Pitching the Spanish league as the best, Cachaza came up with figures to back his claim. “Spanish clubs have won 7 of the last 11 Champions League and 6 out of 10 Europa League trophies. And players from La Liga have won all the last 10 Ballon d’Or awards. We are also rated best in the UEFA League and Club rankings, ahead of England, Italy and Germany,” he said.

He downplayed talk that the Spanish League was a two-horse race in Barcelona and Real Madrid by saying “six different clubs have won the title and all the other clubs are gradually improving, moreso after the central sales of broadcasting rights.”

Gary Udhwani Motiram, Delegate India, elaborated on LaLiga’s vision. “State-of-the-art aerial cameras operative at 11 different stadiums, 360° replays, 4K cinematic production and the return of VAR (Video Assisted Referee) makes La Liga a thrilling viewing experience,” he said.