BHOPAL: Keeping his promise, the CEO of German football club FC Ingolstadt and former German player Dietmar 'Didi' Beiersdorfer came to Madhya Pradesh’s famous football village Vicharpur in Shahdol district on Monday.
The 62-year-old was accompanied by the club’s director (international affairs) Manuel Schafer on his visit to the village, which is nicknamed the ‘Mini Brazil of MP’ due to the passion of locals for the sport.
The visit took place after five promising teenage players from the village had a training stint under Beiersdorfer at FC Ingolstadt's facilities between October 4 and October 12.
“When we were leaving Germany last month, we became emotional. So Didi promised us that he would soon visit India, particularly our village Vicharpur, to himself experience the passion we have for football. He kept his promise and visited our village,” young coach and former national level player Laxmi Sahees, who accompanied the five teenagers to Germany last month, told TNIE on Monday.
According to Kaushik Maulik, who is accompanying the German duo, “Didi has been won over by the love which every resident of Vicharpur village has for football. There are very few places where people want their kids to play football, because they love the game, rather than having any big expectations from the popular sport.”
“We visited the homes of all five teenage football players who were trained by Didi and the team in Germany last month. Didi was particularly amazed seeing the 3-year-old sister of teenage striker Virendra Baiga, practising football. We want the bond between Didi and Vicharpur to soar to new heights,” Maulik told The New Indian Express.
The other promising teenage players besides Virendra Baiga whose homes were visited by Beiersdorfer included Pritam Kumar, Manish Ghasiya, Suhani Kol and Saniya Kunde.
The two Germans also interacted with football coaches and Shahdol district administration officials, including collector Kedar Singh. The German duo will be in MP capital Bhopal on Tuesday, where they are likely to meet the CM Dr Mohan Yadav, to chalk out the future roadmap for shaping the talents of Vicharpur.
“Our game is improving significantly following the short training in Germany. Since returning from Germany, we’ve been in constant touch with Didi over phone and he is keeping track of our training at regular intervals,” Sahees said.
Vicharpur village in Shahdol district has long been home to football crazy players, but its actual football potential was harnessed by ex-IAS officer Rajeev Sharma, while he was posted as Shahdol divisional commissioner in 2022.
A three-layered initiative titled ‘Football Kranti’ ushered by Sharma with the help of seasonal football coach Raees Khan, Nita Ambani’s Reliance Foundation and All India Football Federation (AIFF) brought about structural changes, right from the school level to train promising kids in three districts of Shahdol division (Anuppur, Shahdol and Umaria). The Vicharpur village of Shahdol remained the nucleus of the initiative.
The initiative also ensured jobs as coaches for former players including Laxmi Sahees to train the players of Vicharpur and adjoining villages.
The central Indian state’s ‘Mini Brazil’ also caught PM Narendra Modi’s attention. During his visit to Shahdol in 2023, he met with the players of the village.
In March 2025, the PM also recounted his meeting with players of MP’s 'Mini Brazil', during a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman.
Beiersdorfer’, who played for Germany in the Euro 1992 qualifier against Belgium in 1991, decided to associate with the eastern MP district’s village and train the promising teenagers in Germany after the PM’s mention of Vicharpur's talents in the podcast.