New Delhi [India], April 29 (ANI): The Premier League, England's top-division football league, on Tuesday announced the opening of an office in India. Based in Mumbai, the new office will build on the Premier League's longstanding work to engage local fans and partners and promote football in India, while supporting the continued growth of the League and its clubs.

The Premier League has a long history of working in India to engage its millions of passionate fans and football communities. At a grassroots level, the League has been running its Premier Skills programme in partnership with the British Council to support the development of the community football workforce since 2007. Over the past 18 years, the programme has been delivered in more than 18 Indian states, supporting more than 7,300 coaches, referees and educators, benefiting 124,000 young people, as per a press release from the Premier League.

At an elite level, the Premier League has been working closely with the Indian Super League (ISL) since 2014, which has seen the Premier League share knowledge and expertise across all areas of the elite game, including governance, youth, coach and referee development. In 2019, the Premier League launched the Next Gen Cup - an elite international youth tournament organised in collaboration with the ISL and Reliance Foundation to support the development of youth talent. The sixth edition of the tournament will take place in Mumbai in May 2025 and will see ISL youth teams take on U19 teams from Premier League clubs.

The Premier League India office will further strengthen the league's commitment to supporting the development of football across India at both elite and grassroots levels through enhanced collaboration with football authorities and governing bodies. The office will also focus on creating more ways to engage directly with fans in the region through events and partnership activities, working closely with the League's longstanding broadcast partner JioStar.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said: 'We and our clubs have a fantastic and knowledgeable fanbase in India, and we know football continues to grow in popularity. We are proud of our longstanding commitment to India, having worked to deliver community football programmes for 18 years and, more recently, our partnership with the Indian Super League.'

'Opening this office marks a significant milestone for the Premier League. It will enable us to operate more effectively locally as we build on our existing work to establish additional ways to strengthen our relationship with fans, JioStar, and other partners. We are looking forward to the opportunities it will create in the region,' he concluded.

In 2019, the Premier League opened its first international office in Singapore, primarily to combat piracy of Premier League content and support its broadcast partners. In July 2023, the League opened its office in New York to continue to develop fan engagement opportunities in the United States, working closely with its longstanding broadcast partner NBC Sports. In October 2024, the Premier League announced the opening of an office in Beijing, continuing to build on its work in the region to engage fans and partners, and support the development of the game locally. (ANI)