Grant Thornton named India's best sports services consulting firm
Honouring its work with the Hockey World Cup 2018, global professional services firm Grant Thornton’s India practice has been named the Best Sports Services Consulting Firm at this year’s Sports Excellence Awards held by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
The firm was selected by the Sports & Youth Services Department in the Odisha government last year to manage the Hockey World Cup 2018, which took place in Bhubaneshwar between November and December. 16 teams participated in the event, which was won by Belgium.
Grant Thornton has been laying greater emphasis on its sports consulting services in recent years, particularly in the Indian market. Alongside its position as Project Manager for the Hockey World Cup, the firm is also currently working on projects with the regional governments in the states of Punjab and Kerala.
The projects include sporting initiatives from both states, and have presumably resulted from Grant Thornton’s demonstration of its ability to manage a sporting event of great scale. The firm has now been formally recognised in New Delhi by ASSOCHAM for its work during the event.
The firm received the award for the Best Sports Services Consulting Firm in the Sports Excellence Awards division of ASSOCHAM’s National Summit & Awards on Sports Business: Infrastructure, Investment and Merchandising. Sports has become the latest focus for Grant Thornton, in addition to other diversification efforts.
Commenting on the award, CEO of Grant Thornton India Vishesh Chandiok said, “I am absolutely delighted at this occasion of Grant Thornton being awarded as the sports consultancy of the year. Hockey World Cup was not only the biggest sports consulting project ever, but it also ended up being one of the most successful sports events ever hosted in India. I really hope this has set the standard for the future and I would like to congratulate all our 4,000 plus employees in India and more than 50,000 around the world for the encouragement and work on the ground.”
“We realigned our focus on sports advisory about two years back. In these couple of years, we have seen the growing interest of Governments and the private sector in sports and believe that Grant Thornton has global expertise and credentials to meet their requirements. Going forward, we plan to work closely with Governments, the private sector, federations and other stakeholders in developing competitiveness in the sports sector,” he added.
