IT News
Imphal, May 10:
Manipur has contributed 43 football players for different premier football clubs of the country in the Indian Super League(ISL) which is India’s unrivalled football championship which kicked off in October 2014.
Expressing happiness over the development, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh while the footballers, presented a Leirum Lengyan (a traditional muffler) to each of the footballers during a meeting at Chief Minister’s official Bungalow in Imphal on Sunday.
Informing this by sharing a brief video of a meeting of the state footballers who play in ISL in a facebook post on Sunday, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh wrote, “It was a pleasure meeting all the Indian Super League players from Manipur at my official residence. Today, I’m very proud that a small state like Manipur which has a population of nearly 30 lakh population is able to contribute 43 players in the ISL.”
The footballer turned journalist and subsequently turned politician Biren Singh further wrote, “We must take pride that we are contributing more footballers in ISL than West Bengal which has a population of over 10 crore. Currently 30 players from West Bengal are playing in the ISL.”
Happy to honour all of them with a Leirum lengyan, he added.
FIFA U-17 World Cup squad of India has eight players from Manipur out of the total 21 selected for the mega-event in 2017.
It may be mentioned that the ISL is co-promoted by Reliance, Star Indian and supported by the All India Football Federation. Presently eleven premier football clubs are playing in ISL.
India’s leading industrialists and celebrities from sports as well as the Indian film industry have heavily invested in the league’s 11 franchises based in the following cities: Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Jamshedpur.
