Kochi: VPS Healthcare on Friday handed over Rs 1 crore to the Kerala soccer team which bagged the celebrated Santosh Trophy in Malappuram on Monday.
At an occasion organised right here by VPS Healthcare, the money prize of Rs 1 crore was handed over to the winners by the Group’s India Head Hafiz Ali Ullat and Corporate (*1*) and CSR Head Dr Rajeev Mangottil.
The occasion noticed a reunion of the state’s best footballers, each outdated and new together with former Santosh Trophy-winning captains Kurikesh Mathew (1993), V Sivakumar (2001), Sylvester Ignatius (2004), Rahul Dev (2018) and legendary gamers like I M Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, and Asif Saheer.
Vijayan, the previous Indian team captain, requested the VPS Group to begin an academy on the grassroots degree.
“We are joyful that Dr Shamsheer has honoured us veteran gamers and coaches. I do not assume this has ever occurred earlier than. It makes me really feel proud. I request the entrepreneur to begin an academy on the grassroots degree in Kerala,” Vijayan stated.
Anitha Sathyan, the spouse of former Santosh Trophy-winning captain late V P Sathyan, and ex-football coaches T A Jaffer and M Peethambaran had been additionally current.
The 1973 championship-winning captain late T Okay S Mani’s members of the family, who could not attend the occasion, conveyed their needs to the gathering.
UAE-based entrepreneur Shamsheer Vayalil, the Chairman and Managing Director of VPS Healthcare, had on Monday taken to Twitter and promised the prize cash for the Kerala soccer team in the event that they received the event.
Kerala captain Jijo Joseph, who spoke in the course of the event, stated the team had intense coaching classes and thanked the top coach and different workers for his or her steady assist.
“I really feel {that a} selfless curiosity in sports activities guides selections like these, which is able to lead to the expansion of sports activities within the nation,” Jijo stated, thanking Vayalil for the shock announcement earlier than the ultimate.
The gamers who scored targets for Kerala all through the event had been additionally honoured with a money prize of Rs 10 lakh.
Shamsheer stated acknowledging the contributions of the sportspersons would encourage them to obtain extra.
“It is the collective accountability of society to recognise their arduous work. Victories are usually not made in a day. For all seven title-winning performances, the gamers put in a number of effort. I consider this get-together will doc these efforts and lay a powerful basis for the way forward for soccer within the state,” he stated.
Team head coach Bino George thanked the Group for giving the team a possibility to share the stage with soccer legends.
“This prize cash is a motivation, and I’m certain extra folks will come into sports activities with this type of assist,” Bino stated.
The Group additionally honoured the previous coaches and captains with mementoes and particular items.
On Monday, in the course of the finals of the Santosh Trophy, Kerala bounced again from a aim down to beat heavyweights Bengal 5-4 within the penalty shootout and received their seventh Santosh Trophy title on the Manjeri Payyanad Football Stadium.
https://www.onmanorama.com/sports activities/soccer/2022/05/07/vps-group-hands-over-rupees-one-crore-to-santosh-trophy-winning-kerala-team.html
