Look what Indian flower company got in Dutch deal: A Kenyan football club

Definitely, not something the Indian company’s promoter and managing director Ramakrishna Karuturi had bargained for. “I didn’t really think about it before the acquisition,” Ramakrishna Karuturi told The Indian Express over phone from Bangalore. “But now I realise that opportunities do exist to make great use of the coincidence.”

Karuturi hasn’t really tied up the details, but he believes there is great potential to be able to use this positively for the growing Indian soccer profile.

“We will need some time for the acquisition process to be completed, after which I will turn my attention to the club,” said Karuturi, adding, “six or seven of our (Sher FC) players are in the (Kenyan) national squad, which makes it a good club to further develop.”

He hopes to have had a clearer picture of the situation at the club by October-end and may then want to think of possible gains from this sporting acquisition.

The other Indian to own a football club abroad is steel magnate Pramod Mittal, younger brother of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who bought Bulgarian premier league club CSKA Sofia in December last year.

That, of course, was a big buy. After the acquisition of the 30-time Bulgarian champions, there was even speculation that one of the former England coaches Sven-Goran Eriksson or Bobby Robson would take over as coach. This has not happened so far.

Sher FC is based in Naivasha, and have their own stadium. They have never won the league, but have a good representation in the national side. The key requirement for the club to survive, however, is money. With the Indian presence, this might now turn real for Sher.