Twenty Manipur women footballers will have the opportunity to interact with the world famous FC Bayern legend, Bixente Lizarazu during the Hafele India sponsored “Meet and Greet” event in New Delhi from February 1-3 next.
“Lizarazu will share his vast experience with the young players during the event as we’ve tied up with the FC Bayern under the regional partnership (since May 2018),” says Marketing head (South Asia) Sanjay Swami of Hafele India.
FC Bayern or Fußball-Club Bayern München is a popular German club based in Munich while Hafele India is an international company providing hardware and fitting systems and electronic locking systems.
Stating that the step was initiated after we started to identify different areas in India and football is played predominantly across the country, Sanjay said, “We identified North East and besides east Kolkata. Manipur is the place where women football is strong but does not have the infrastructure support with the rest of the country. So, we have felt that we need to invest in such areas for the development of women football.”
The 20 selected women footballers including ten from Eastern Sporting Union (ESU) women football team were also formally felicitated during a simple function at ESU ground in Imphal East district on Monday morning.
Director, Armstrong Pame of Youth Affairs and sports department and General Secretary, RK Nimai Singh of ESU besides Manipuri film actor and football lover Sadananda Hamom were also present in the day’s felicitation function.
Speaking on the occasion Director Armstrong lauded the initiative of the Hafele India considering the fund shortage in the state’s Youth Affairs and sports. The budget of the department is insufficient in providing the necessary support system to all the (63) sports disciplines, he said and sought support from the corporate sectors. In his speech, RK Nimai Singh appealed to the young women footballers to maintain discipline while attending the upcoming sponsored events.