Eric Benny

Early Life

Born and bought up in a humble background Eric played football from the age of 7. His father was an avid lover of football and a former professional and his mother a house wife. Eric has a son and wife who live in New Delhi. As a child, Eric played for his school tournaments and trained with his father mostly. Eric was popular amongst the students in school and university for his football abilities and versatility.

Careers

Eric Benny enjoyed playing professional football since 1994. There he played for Simla Youngs F.C., Royal Rangers and Salgaocar F.C. and all age nationals for Delhi state. He was injured while playing professional football which kept him out of the professional game forever. Due to a Career ending Injury he was forced to find an alternative to sustain his living. Post the injury recovery he enrolled himself into a full time university program from Delhi University. He looked at this as a second opportunity to make a comeback into professional football however he failed in making a comeback. Eric then realised that he should study and have an alternative career as playing professional football which was his passion was gradually taking a back seat.

Corporate Career

He then ventured out and started aspiring for a career in the corporate sector. Eric went in for certifications and skill enhancement like PMP/ITIL/Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. Honoured his skills in conceptualizing, solution design, planning and execution of large-scale engagements. In his corporate stint he worked and serviced mainly Fortune 500 companies like Citibank, American Express, IBM, and Philips within and outside India. Being a Dynamic leader he helped organizations define, plan and lead strategic change, technology and organizational transformations, cross-functional integration and driving delivery success for over a decade with a global footprint. While he had expertise in leading large and complex transition programs, consistently delivering in challenging environments, mapping business requirements and coordinating in developing and implementing processes in line with the pre-set guidelines spearheading process transition initiatives, there was a constant calling pulling him towards football.

Managerial career

Finally in 2009 Eric left his corporate stint and started a non-profit organisation for former Indian football professionals who wanted a comeback and were finding it tough to sustain, besides this Eric 4vs’4 leagues in different regions across Indian football leagues in Delhi, NCR, Uttrakhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra. 4vs’4 leagues were adopted to help players develop their ability and skills in tighter spaces. In 2010, Eric was appointed as the General Manager of the Indian national football team.As the national team asset he represented the Tri colors at Asian Games Guangzhou China 2010. Post which he lead the Indian national football team as a Manager towards the Olympic Games Qualifiers in 2011. During the 2011 season Eric then was appointed as the General Manager of an I-league club known as Indian Arrows. Players like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalrindika Ralte, Milan Singh, Jewel Raja, Manandeep Singh, Raju Gaikwad, Jagroop Singh, Jeje and a few others played under his leadership. He broke the dominance of regional football and led Indian Arrows to finish 10th in their first season of professional football.

Eric Benny Sports Management

End of 2011, Eric decided to put in his efforts towards youth development of Indian football which was a one of a kind initiative hence he decided to move on from the All India Football Federation with his immense learnings that he got from the Federation which would further help him in achieving his vision in preparing the young and promising Indian players for professional football through a series of other initiatives that were to follow. "Eric Benny Foundation" was started in the year 2012 with the objective to raise awareness and interest of football amongst the ‘not so privileged’ and provide them a professional platform to pursue their dreams. The Foundation stands for ‘Football for Change’ and encourages fans, followers and benefactors to support the Vision.

Realizing the need to develop football from the youth level. Eric Benny Sports Management was created with a vision to promote football he started Eric Benny Sports Management which focuses on training Indian youth to become professionals in the game. In 2012, the company announced a partnership with the Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz. Metz is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest level in the French football league system. The partnership set up the opportunity for young Indian footballers to work and train with the French club professionally. Football club de Metz, a Ligue 1 outfit has produced players such as Franck Ribery, Papiss Cissé, Robert Pirès, Emmanuel Adebayor, Louis Saha, Miralem Pjanić, Diafra Sakho, Sadio Mane and many more.

My Chance (2013)" was another initiative for Under-13 and Under-15 age groups from across schools, clubs and NGOs which allowed players and teams to compete amongst each other in New Delhi and the NCR region. Four Players were sent to the FC Metz(France) academy to train for a month, which was sponsored by Eric Benny Sports Management. "My Chance" providing an opportunity for young players and coaches to help promote the game and to foster upcoming football talent.

Since then, Eric has helped to place young Indian players at the Metz International Football Academy – a premier club where the players from the national teams of Finland, Canada, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Nigeria earn their ranks to stay in the program.

Talking about the challenges he has faced in selecting young Indian players and helping them to play at an international level, Mr Benny remarks, “We need technically able players and one of our many problems is that we continue to develop ‘players who play football’ and not ‘football players’.” Eric Benny strongly believes that his association and relationship with FC Metz is unique in Indian football. With a focus on strong values which will ensure that long-term and sustainable growth is achieved through concerted and mutually-aligned effort from all the football stakeholders. The objective of sustainable long-term development by working in unison with the entire Indian footballing fraternity .In 2014, Eric signed Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian national football team and I-league club, Bengaluru FC as the Brand Ambassador of Eric Benny Sports Management. Talking about the present scenario of Indian football, Chhetri emphasised on the fact that the Indian players are diligent but “unless the teacher is good to teach the right way at the right age, and players learn to simultaneously work smart and work hard, only then can there be improvement, else a fiasco.” He voiced that there was a strong need for initiatives like what Eric had created to take Indian football to the next level and was very keen on providing his support too Eric Benny Sports Management. Since 2014, Chhetri has been promoting the company as a symbol for development of Indian football.

2014 Eric was involved during the FIFA World Cup along with panellist Saurav Ganguly, Ashley Westwood (footballer, born 1976) and Boria Majumdar on India Today Group.

2015 saw the emergence of an additional academy in Germany known as Duescthe Fussbalinternat. This academy is a feeder to top Bavarian football clubs such as Bayern Munich, 1816 Munchin, Red Bull Salzburg, FCingostdat, Auxberg and some of the Austrian clubs and more.

Belief

“There is so much raw talent in the India. If the players are groomed and worked with a clear vision, they can be our future stars.Sports is vital to the holistic development of young people, fostering their physical, social and emotional health,” My aim is to work with the talented kids and make them build character, positivity and stability. I believe in giving exposure to the talented kids. That helps them develop their skills and the nation by shaping the next generation of Indian footballers. If we invest right number of hours with sound technical coaching, we can produce champions.”

Eric has successfully mentored the following players who now play professional football and make the nation proud Jerry Lalrinzuala, Anirudh Thapa, Prosenjeet Chakraborty, Baoringdao Bodo, and Bedachwor Singh, Bidyananda Singh, Sajid Khan, Vedant Nag, Varun Mathur, Yasheel Shah,

Initiatives

Benny introduced 4v4 leagues in different regions across India. The first version was started Delhi and moved to different parts such as Agra, Jaipur, Mussourie, Dehradun, Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai. 4v4 leagues were adopted to help players develop their ability and skills in tighter spaces. Benny believes that this format is the way forward for Indian football.

"My Chance (2013)" was another initiative for Under-13 and Under-15 age groups from across schools, clubs and NGOs which allowed players and teams to compete amongst each other in New Delhi and the NCR region. Four Players were sent to the FC Metz(France) academy to train for a month, which was sponsored by Eric Benny Sports Management. "My Chance" aimed at the opportunity for young players and coaches to help promote the game and to foster upcoming football talent.

"Eric Benny Foundation" was started in the year 2012 with the objective to raise awareness and interest of football amongst the ‘not so privileged’ and provide them a professional platform to pursue their dreams. The Foundation stands for ‘Football for Change’ and encourages fans, followers and benefactors to support the mission through donations and other benevolent activities. Some of the proceeds collected by the foundation go to various non-profit organisations that work for the betterment of underprivileged children living in the slums.