Barefoot kick-off for `gully' football tourney

NAGPUR: After the recent FIFA world cup frenzy, get ready to witness some football frenzy right here in Nagpur. The lines have been marked at the Reshimbagh ground and the rules are going to be the same as international football matches. However, there's going to be a slight difference: all the players will be barefoot.
This tournament organised by the Kusum Sahare Foundation (KSF) will have teams from slums all around the city.The sixth year of the `jhopadpatti football tournament' will have 60 participating teams, says Nagesh Sahare, the organiser of this event. "These teams will battle it out for prize money of Rs 15,000. The team in the second place gets Rs 10,000. This tournament has been completely funded by individuals like me to promote football among the poor. The founders of KSF saw people play a very crude form of football in the grounds around their slums. So they thought, why not hold a tournament?" said Sahare.
The tournament has seen a tremendous rise in its popularity over the last six years. It started off with just five teams playing for two days. Now 60 teams are participating in this tournament and the event will pay out over 15 days. The event was inaugurated on Sunday and the final match will be played on August 15.
"Playing football without any shoes is symbolic," says Sahare. "It is necessary to bear in mind that these people come from slums all around the city. Such activities were earlier carried out by Christian missionaries."
One of the organisers, Advin Anthony, said he was yearning to see India play in the recent FIFA world cup. He is doing his best to promote football among the people. He plans to pick out good players at this tournament and guide them properly if they wish to take up football as their career.
"When a team wins this tournament, the players are so motivated that they listen to the recommendations we give them. We suggest their names to a few clubs and they join immediately. In the past years, we have been continuously picking up good players,'' he said.