Fifa raising stake as World Cup fever grips Indian merchandise market

The idea is to keep products that appeal to audiences and encourage them to wear their game and team affiliations on their sleeve

With millions tuning in to the World Cup matches and passionate fans setting off a chat storm on social media, FIFA is raising the stakes in the Indian merchandise market. Stamping down its fear of fakes and not letting the past tepid sales experiences with World Cup effects dampen its enthusiasm, the federation has bet big with an expanded product portfolio and a significant jump in its marketing and distribution efforts. But the question really is whether it can convert fans of the game into collectors of original team and player memorabilia. 

According to the latest data from BARC, nearly 47