Bengaluru: Spain's Premier Division clubs may play friendly matches in India in the near future, the widely followed league's India head Jose Cachaza said on Thursday.
"We are planning to hold a friendly match involving La Liga clubs in India, but I cannot say when it will be held. We did hold matches last year," Cachaza told reporters here.
"There is huge money involved in holding such a match and we need participation of local promoters for doing it. This is one reason. The other reason is, the players get some time at the end of season, say in June, but it is difficult to think of players keen on playing a friendly," he said.
Cachaza said La Liga has informal relationships with at least six Indian Super League sides.
"We are having good relations with at least six ISL teams. We are helping them to visit Spain for pre-season matches. Our intention is to help them improve football in India," he said.
"We do not want to have a formalised relationship with any football club because each club has their own philosophy and ideas. We do not want to interfere into their matters," Cachaza added.
Replying to a query, Cachaza said La Liga is planning more and more screenings of the matches in India.
"Already we held public viewing with stars like Gaizka Mendieta, Fernando Morientes, Robert Pires and Luis Garcia starting last year. The audience for La Liga has been growing for the last few years even as there are close to two million fans on Facebook," he said.
Going by gross television audience and sponsorship sales, Cachaza said football was the most-watched non-cricket sporting discipline in India.
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