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Bundesliga International terminates BigHit Sportz partnership over breaches of contract

Indian Football & Sports expert
Published at :June 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Modified at :June 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
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Bundesliga International got into a collaboration with BigHit Sportz in 2024.

Bundesliga International have decided to terminate their partnership with BigHit Sportz, the Mumbai-based company that had been managing the Bundesliga Dream India program. The decision was taken after the German organisation discovered multiple contractual breaches during the second year of the collaboration.

Despite this major setback, Bundesliga International reaffirmed their commitment to supporting grassroots football programs in India.

A program with promise

Launched in 2023, Bundesliga Dream India was designed to bring world-class grassroots exposure to India. Successfully implemented across multiple countries throughout Asia, the program aimed to give U-13 and U-15 players a rare opportunity to train at Bundesliga clubs’ youth academies—facilities that have produced many international superstars.

BigHit Sportz were tasked with managing talent identification, trials, and logistics across India. The plan involved sending six youth teams to Germany over two years, with Bundesliga clubs such as FC Augsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, walready hosting two Indian teams in the first phase.

As with all Bundesliga Dream programs globally, the initiative followed a free-to-play model. Bundesliga covered costs in Germany, while local costs, such as flights, are supposed to be borne by participating federations, sponsors, or partners. Recent successful examples include the Bundesliga Dream in Thailand, China, and Korea.

Where did it go wrong?

However, inconsistencies in execution began surfacing during the second season. Khel Now spoke to multiple sources, including parents of players, who raised concerns about excessive charges.

“We were asked to pay ₹1,39,000 for flights, while market prices were nearly half,” shared one parent.

Additionally, sources revealed that players scouted during national finals were replaced with others who could afford the fees, contradicting the program’s merit-based philosophy.

Despite repeated attempts to address the situation, these discrepancies led Bundesliga International to officially end the partnership. A letter sent to the 37 shortlisted players confirmed the June 2025 trip had been postponed, citing “major breaches of contract” by BigHit.

“We can no longer continue our partnership with BigHit due to major breaches of contract by Big Hit, which both contradict the legal and moral terms of our agreement. We can no longer continue our partnership with them. However, we are working with our partner clubs—SV Darmstadt 98 and VfB Stuttgart—to ensure the young talents still get their deserved opportunity,” the letter stated.

Bundesliga has been one of the most active top leagues when it comes to youth development projects in Asia, with both the league and clubs regularly hosting youth teams alongside community engagement and grassroots projects.

Bayern Munich also steps away

Khel Now have also learned that FC Bayern Munich, which had an independent partnership with BigHit, have ended their association due to similar contractual issues. A source close to the club confirmed that this was done after multiple obligations were not met by the Indian partner.

Khel Now reached out to BigHit Sportz for comment via email, but did not hear back.

Bundesliga International confirmed that the partnership has now concluded, but declined to comment further.

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Ashish Negi
Ashish Negi

Ashish Negi is the co-founder and CEO of Khel Now. He graduated from LPU with a degree in computer engineering in 2015. He started the Indian Football Team Facebook page in 2013 and gifted it to AIFF when it had 500K likes in 2015. He has been following and covering Indian Football & Sports since 2007. Follow Ashish for all the updates on Indian Football & Sports

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