Premier League expands India coaching

The Premier League has widened its coaching footprint in India through a new partnership with Dream Sports Foundation that ties coach education directly to the Dream Sports Championship and the AIFF Under-16 Junior League. Dream Sports Foundation announced the partnership on April 30, saying Premier League staff would deliver workshops and masterclasses for coaches and support staff in Goa from May 3-14. The move adds a new layer to the league’s India strategy after it opened a Mumbai office in 2025 and stepped up community-coach work in the country earlier this year. Premier League and Dream Sports executives said the focus is on coach development, youth-player support and sharing training methods used in elite academies. ### How is the Premier League using the Dream Sports Championship? Dream Sports Foundation said the partnership will be integrated into two existing youth platforms: the Dream Sports Championship and the Under-16 AIFF Junior League. The Premier League is due to run coach-development workshops and technical masterclasses for participating coaches and support staff across those events, according to Dream Sports Foundation’s April 30 statement. (dreamsports.group) Goa is the immediate venue for that work. The Dream Sports Championship 2026, which doubles as the AIFF Junior League national finals, is being held there from May 3 to May 14, giving the Premier League an on-the-ground setting to work with academy coaches during competition rather than in a standalone seminar format. ### What exactly are Indian coaches being taught? (dreamsports.group) Dream Sports Foundation said the sessions cover training methodology, match management, physical conditioning, psychology and leadership. The statement said the aim is to bring “global best practices” into the Indian academy system through direct work with coaches, academies and clubs. Hrishikesh Shende, managing director of Premier League India, said in the statement that the league is “committed to developing, growing and improving football in India” by sharing expertise in coaching and youth-player development. (sports.ndtv.com) Neel Shah, chief executive of Dream Sports Foundation, said the partnership is intended to focus on coaches and support staff while creating pathways for players to compete and learn at higher standards. (dreamsports.group) ### How does this fit the Premier League’s wider India plan? The Premier League said in September 2025 that it had opened an office in Mumbai to deepen local engagement with fans, partners and football-development work in India. That office gave the league a permanent base in one of its largest overseas markets. Mumbai was also the site of a separate Premier League coaching event announced on January 10, 2026. In that programme, delivered with the British Council, Premier League, Brentford and Newcastle United coaches trained 27 community coaches from across India, who then led sessions with 80 young footballers from the OSCAR Foundation at Cooperage Football Ground. (aninews.in) The league said that work built on a relationship with India dating to 2007. (premierleague.com) ### Is this model something the Premier League is using elsewhere? China offers the clearest comparison. The Premier League said on April 14 that its Next Gen Beijing Cup would include a four-day Next Gen Coach programme for 40 grassroots coaches from across the region, supported by Premier League staff and coaches from Burnley and Chelsea. Beijing’s follow-up report on May 8 showed how that format works in practice. (premierleague.com) The Premier League said the programme ended with a showcase event for 64 players aged 10 to 12 and sat alongside a youth tournament designed to combine competition with coach education and knowledge-sharing. The India partnership follows a similar pattern: attach coaching instruction to an existing youth event and use the tournament as the delivery platform. (premierleague.com) ### What comes next in India? The Premier League’s immediate next step is the completion of the Goa programme running through May 14. Dream Sports Foundation said the partnership covers both the Dream Sports Championship and the AIFF Under-16 Junior League, while Shende said the league would keep working with DSF to “grow and improve” the tournament. The Premier League has also said its Mumbai office is intended to support continued work with Indian football stakeholders. (dreamsports.group) (premierleague.com)