Eric benny

My Story

Benny left a successful corporate life where he worked for Fortune 500 companies like American Express, Citibank, and IBM in leadership roles. In 2009 he quit corporate life and re-entered the football space and was appointed as the Manager of the India national football team. He and his team represented India at the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010. He also led the team as a manager at the Olympic Games qualifiers in 2011. During the 2011 football season, he was appointed the General Manager of the I-league club, Indian Arrows. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalrindika Ralte, Milan Singh, Jewel Raja, Manandeep Singh, Raju Gaikwad, Jagroop Singh, and Jeje played during his tenure and the Indian Arrows finished 10th in their first season of professional football. 

In 2012, Benny started the Eric Benny Foundation to promote football as a sport in India. The same year, the company partnered with the French Ligue 1 Club, FC Metz. The partnership allowed him to place young Indian footballers at the Metz International Football Academy. In 2014, he signed Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the India national football team and the I-league club, Bengaluru FC as the brand ambassador of Eric Benny Sports Management. The same year, Benny was a panellist on the coverage of the FIFA World Cup along with Sourav Ganguly, Ashley Westwood and Boria Majumdar for the India Today Group. In 2015, he took the prospective U-17 World Cup players to Germany, with the young team playing a series of matches against a variety of German and French teams. He continued his tie by partnering with the Deutsches Fussball Internat (DFI), a German football academy in Southern Bavaria. From 2016 onwards, Benny scouted and worked with various institutes and clubs. Notably, Anirudh Thapa, Jerry Lalrinzuala and 3 other players were also mentored by Benny and he helped them develop and harness their potential at FC Metz , before signing 3-year deals with ISL club Chennaiyin FC and were also considered some of the most promising Indian talent in the league. Anirudh and Jerry also went on to play for the Indian National Team.

Between 2017 and 2018, he started the EBFA in Mumbai and EBFS in Madhya Pradesh, with the aim to scout all over India and revolutionize football in the country. Since then, Mr. Benny has been mentoring talent at his European Centres of Excellence in France and Germany, where he continues to educate players, coaches and parents alike. Today, his initiatives have created a ripple effect within the nation, with many replicating his programmes within and outside of India. His contributions have been invaluable in taking the sport forward and his mentorship continues to ring true with every individual he has worked with.