Consulting and IT services major Satyam, the first Indian corporate sponsor of FIFA World Cup, hopes to spread the craze for soccer in the country “from the TV screen to the ground”, with the long-term goal of pulling India up the world ranking rungs.

Calcutta will be at the heart of a structured “backward-integration” initiative by the company, which will start in March. The initiative is aimed at enriching the grassroots level and teething more youngsters into the game through a series of roadshows, tournaments and clinics.

“The biggest challenge is to convert the healthy TV viewership of the game we have into actual participation, and there’s no better place to set the ball rolling than Calcutta,” Dilbagh Gill, the head (sports vertical) of Satyam Computer Services told Metro.

Satyam will be the official IT services provider to the FIFA World Cup, the relationship covering two event cycles — the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 edition in Brazil. Each cycle includes the FIFA Confederation Cup tournament.

Gill felt the company could spearhead a tiered development programme, which would function under the broad contours of FIFA’s “Win in India with India” agenda. “We are giving shape to a host of exciting events working with the world governing body leading up to the Confederation Cup, and Calcutta will be the epicentre of our plans,” said Gill.

It is learnt that Satyam, whose software was first used by FIFA at the live draw for the 2010 World Cup in Durban last November, and then in the World Club Cup in Japan, could line up some of world soccer’s biggest names in India to make football more fashionable. Even an age-group world tourney, with the city getting the title match, is not ruled out.

The company, which has convinced the FIFA partners to hold their next conclave in Hyderabad, is also stitching together an awareness drive, with Calcutta, Kerala and Goa striking up front.

“We are looking at the possibility of bringing some important qualifying games to the country for starters,” said Hari Thalapalli, the head of global marketing and communications for Satyam.

Satyam will also go to city schools and colleges with a series of round-robin meets, giving away tickets to the World Cup in South Africa as prizes, to engage and drive interest.

Over the next seven years, the company will play “a crucial role” in developing the core IT event management systems for FIFA and be its service partner for IT, accommodation and hospitality in the tournament, which fires the sporting world’s imagination like none other.