Football legends to be back in action for ‘Vedanta-AWES legends tournament’
- Over 80+ veteran footballers to participate for Vedanta-AWES Legends
- 8 teams to battle for championship title, followed by felicitation of legendary footballers from
Panaji, Goa 4th April 2022: The Vedanta-AWES Legends tournament will kickstart on April 9 at Sinquetim ground, Navelim- Salcete. The one-of-its-kind football event, organised by Vedanta in collaboration with Association for Wellbeing of Elder Sportspersons (AWES), will witness participation of over 80+ veterans football players.
The jersey unveiling ceremony of the tournament along with tournament draw was concluded at Panjim in the distinguished presence of Mr. Sujal Shah, CEO- Iron Ore Business, Vedanta Limited, Ms. Leena Verenkar- Group CSR Head, Vedanta Limited, Mr. Derrick Pereira – President, AWES, Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar along with executive committee of AWES & officials from Vedanta- Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business.
Vedanta-AWES legends tournament to witness power packed competition between legendary footballers playing for the 8 teams namely Salcete Veterans, Custom Veterans, Fatorda Veterans, Chinchinim Veterans, Salgaocar Veterans, Sesa Veterans, Bardez Veterans, Dempo Veterans. The renowned legendary footballers including Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Bruno Coutinho, Pascoal Pereira, Bosco Monteiro, Jerry Fernandes, and many others will participate in this tournament.
Mr. Annanya Agarwal, President- Vedanta Sports congratulated organising team & Said “I am personally extremely excited to see our footballing legends back in action. We at Vedanta Sports are happy to be organising this one of its kind events to engage with the legendary footballers and learn from their vast experience, which will further help us in our journey towards transforming Indian football to take it to the next level.”
While speaking at the jersey unveiling ceremony Mr. Derrick Pereira- President, AWES said “We are very happy to collaborate with Vedanta for organising this event for veteran football players which will provide opportunities for the football lovers to see the legendary footballers back on ground. It is also a great occasion for all of us to recall the old memories and engage with veteran footballers.”
Mr. Sujal Shah, CEO- Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business, Vedanta Limited said “Contribution of all the legendary football players is massive in upliftment of Indian football. We are extremely delighted to engage with these torchbearers of glorious journey of Indian Football, through this unique platform of Vedanta- AWES Legends tournament. Our endeavour is to further continue the development of Indian sports through robust grassroot training programs, and I believe experience & expertise of these legends will be instrumental to take Indian football to greater heights”
Vedanta sports is contributing towards the development of Indian sports through robust grassroot training programs spread across the various regions of the country including, Sesa Football Academies at Goa, Zinc Football project at Rajasthan, Archery Academy at Bokaro, Vedanta Women’s football league etc.
About Vedanta Cares
Vedanta is committed to reinvest in the social good of its neighbourhood communities and the nation. The Group’s flagship CSR project, Nand Ghar, is a network of model anganwadis where the thrust is on inclusive development of women and children at the grassroots level. The Group CSR initiative comprises of seven key verticals – Education, Healthcare, Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Livelihood, Skilling, Sports & Culture and Employee Volunteering. Vedanta Foundation, a philanthropic initiative of Vedanta Group is focused on skill development and vocational training programmes for the underprivileged to make them employable. A key healthcare speciality CSR project is the Balco Medical Center, a 200-bed state-of-the-art Cancer care hospital located in New Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The company supports grassroots level sports through their Football academies in Goa and Udaipur.
About Vedanta Limited
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and Australia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing to India’s growth story, currently contributing 1 percent of India’s GDP. The company is among the top private sector contributors to the exchequer with the highest ever contribution of INR 42,560 Crore in FY 2019. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company has been conferred the CII-ITC Sustainability Award, the FICCI CSR Award, Dun & Bradstreet Awards in Metals & Mining, and certified as a Great Place to Work. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
About SESA Football Academy
An initiative of SESA Community Development Foundation (SCDF), SESA Football Academy (SFA) was founded in 1999 for the holistic development of the local youths through football. The academy has created the conditions for discovering, creating and building talent for football. SFA does not restrict itself to football trainings but involves in a long term residential program which takes care of the formal education, skill development of the trainees during the four-year training period.
The academy has a strong focus on women empowerment through football. Since inception, SFA has trained around 200 footballers and has made tremendous impact on the football fraternity in Goa as well as across India. The graduates from SFA are serving in the national teams, Indian Super League (ISL), I-League clubs of India and clubs in Goa. 7 players have earned the national team cap and several players played the elite ISL.