Celebrating Indian Football at the Indian Football Awards

Image credit: AIFF

Image credit: AIFF

The Indian Football Awards, presented by the All India Football Federation, were held at the FICCI Auditorium, Federation House in New Delhi yesterday.

In attendance were most of the AIFF administrative bigwigs, as well as the Indian National Coach Wim Koevarmans, Technical Director Rob Baan, AIFF Academy Instructor Scott O’Donnell and former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia.

A total of 7 awards were given away during the course of the evening, with 5 new categories introduced and 1 award being reinstated.

The Best Referee and Best Assistant Referee Award was given to Pratap Singh and Biplab Poddar respectively. These veteran officials have been in charge of many national and international matches including the India vs Bayern Munich exhibition match at New Delhi (Bhaichung Bhutia’s final game for India) as well as the Argentina vs Venezuela friendly match at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium.

The Manipur Football Association was presented with the award for the Best Grassroots Development Programme. The AIFF kickstarted a Grassroots Football Course as a Pilot Project, with the first project being given to the Manipur FA. The award was thus in recognition of the exemplary work done by the Manipur FA to introduce the game to 6 to 12 year olds.

Jeje Lalpekhlua bagged the AIFF Emerging Player of the Year award for his consistent performances for club and country. The Mizoram forward is now an established player in the senior Indian football setup, having made his debut for the senior team in 2011 after representing India in various age-groups.

The award for Continuous Contribution to Indian Football was given to the Tata Football Academy at Jamshedpur. The TFA, setup in the 1980′s, serves as a full-time academy and a feeder for Indian football. The TFA has mentored scores of Indian footballers, including Gourmangi Singh, Subrata Paul and Syed Rahim Nabi. The award was given to the TFA in recognition of their continuous support to the Indian footballing fraternity.

The prestigious Indian Woman Footballer of the Year award was given to Oinam Bembem Devi, a veteran of Indian Women’s Football, having represented the country since 1995. A prolific goalscorer, Oinam is a vital part of the Indian National Team, which is presently 49th in the latest FIFA world rankings.

The most high profile award of the evening, the award for the AIFF Player of the Year, was presented to 2011 Arjuna awardee Sunil Chhetri. Already a 3-time AIFF Player of the Year, the forward has scored more than 40 goals in his 79-game international career, thus taking up the goalscoring mantle from his former strike partner Bhaichung Bhutia.

To round up the evening, the winners from all 7 categories came up together on the stage for a photo-op.

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Edited by Staff Editor