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The Hero I-League has a new entrant for the upcoming 2021-22 season. Vishakhapatnam's Sreenidi Deccan Football Club has been inducted for the new campaign.
The Vizag-based club was founded in 2015 and has steadily grown in stature over the years. Early in 2018, it was shaped into a professional football club and received its AIFF accreditation a year later in 2019.
In 2020, the All India Football Federation, otherwise known as the AIFF, issued invitations to accept bids for new clubs to join the Hero I-League. By August last year, they were granted permission by the AIFF to enroll for the 2021-22 season.
All these major developments were put under an umbrella yesterday when Sreenidi Deccan Football Club was formally launched under the Hero I-League banner.
Going ahead, July 7 will mark a special date in the calendar for Sreenidi Deccan Football Club and their fans. It will be remembered as the day the club was given its formal beginning to join the Hero I-League to compete in the 2021-22 season.
Andra Pradesh's State Sports Minister Muttamsetty Srinivasa Rao was present at the formal launch of the club as the chief guest of the ceremony. He welcomed the joyous occasion and expressed his overall pride in the development of sports in Vizag.
Muttamsetty Srinivasa Rao said:
“Mental and physical fitness is coming to Visakhapatnam in such a big way.”
Sreenidi Deccan plans to build a football dynasty in Vizag
Sreenidi Deccan Football Club has become the 12th addition to the Hero I-League and a few top executives added that they have already chalked out plans to oversee further development of the club.
Technical Director Fabio Nunes Ferreira has announced that team selection will start next month with Chairman of the Sreenidhi Educational Group of Hyderabad, KT Mahhe, adding that a couple of footballers from Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh will be part of the squad.
Mahhe went on to explain how the club will function as more than just a football club in Vizag. According to him, Sreenidi Deccan Football Club will help the game develop locally by building modern-day facilities and conducting grassroots-level programs.
Sreenidi Deccan has made a solid start by bagging Fernando Santiago Varela as head coach for the upcoming season. Varela was the head coach for Churchill Brothers last season and had guided them to a second-place finish in the table.
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das was also present on the auspicious occasion. He added:
“We welcome Sreenidi Deccan FC to the Hero I-League, and it’s great to see a team from Vizag in the elite group, which would be having the best facilities.”
The new season of the Hero I-League is set to start in December this year in Kolkata.
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