Chinchinim Veterans emerges champions of ‘Vedanta-AWES legends tournament’
- Over 80+ veteran footballers participated for Vedanta-AWES Legends tournament playing for 8 teams. Team Salgaocar veterans secured Runners up position at the tournament.
- Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar was felicitated for his massive contribution to Indian football.
Margao-Navelim, Goa 9th April 2022: The Vedanta-AWES Legends tournament, one-of-itskind football event was organised by Vedanta in collaboration with Association for Wellbeing of Elder Sportspersons (AWES) at Sinquetim ground, Navelim- Salcete.‘ The tournament witnessed participation of over 80+ legendary football players including Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Bruno Coutinho, Pascoal Pereira, Bosco Monteiro, Jerry Fernandes, Avertano Furtado and many others. Team Chinchinim Veterans edge past Salgaocar veterans 1-0 in finals to win Vedanta-AWES legends tournament’. Alaric Gomes of Chinchinim Veterans scored the goal in the finals. Winners and runners up teams along with the top performers of the tournament, were awarded during the closing ceremony of the event in the distinguished presence of Mr. Ulhas Tuenkar, MLA, Navelim, Mr.Sujal Shah, CEOIron Ore Business, Vedanta Limited, Ms.Leena Verenkar, Group CSR Head, Vedanta Limited, Mr. Derrick Pereira, President- AWES along with executive committee of AWES & executives from Vedanta. During closing ceremony Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar was felicitated for his massive contribution to Indian football.
Vedanta-AWES legends tournament witnessed 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.
Mr. Annanya Agarwal, President- Vedanta Sports congratulated all the players & said “We are pleased to organize this unique event in collaboration with AWES, which has provided all of us the opportunity to witness our legendary veteran footballers back in action. I congratulate all the players and organising team for conducting such a successful event, which facilitated engagement with the icons of Indian football.
Expressing his views at the closing ceremony Mr. Derrick Pereira- President, AWES said “We are very delighted to have collaborated with Vedanta for organising this event for veteran football players. Watching these legendary players in action after so long brought back old memories and gave us all a feeling of nostalgia. I would further like to congratulate the winning team for an impeccable show of football skill. We once again thank Vedanta for collaborating with us for this unique event”
While speaking at the closing ceremony Mr. Sujal Shah, CEO- Iron Ore Business, Vedanta Limited said “I am personally in awe of the way our football legends played today. The competitive spirit along with the sportsmanship that they displayed has left us all flabbergasted. I congratulate all the veteran players who showed up to turn back the clock with their spectacular performances. We at Vedanta, are extremely happy to have organised this, one of its kind events that has provided us with the opportunity to engage with these legendary footballers and learn from their vast experience. Our goal is to further continue the development of Indian sports, and I believe experience & guidance of these legends will be instrumental to take Indian football to even greater heights. I thank AWES for collaborating with us for this unique event and my special gratitude to all the legendary footballers for their overwhelming participation”
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.