Khelo India looking at recognising Sesa Football Academy: Rathore

Panaji, Nov 20: Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Tuesday emphasised on the need for stronger alignment with private academies in India and said Khelo India is looking at officially recognising SESA Football Academy as a partner for the programme.

"We have started a programme called Khelo India that is the vision of the Prime Minister, where he feels that anyone who plays has a distinct personality. Sports is also a place where you forget about your caste, creed and religion and where you become one team," said Rathore, who was special guest at an event organised by SESA Football Academy at their Sankhali Campus.

"Hopefully we will very soon be recognising Sesa Football Academy as a partner in Khelo India. My team will come here and see the infrastructure and the training that is happening," he added.

Annanya Agarwal, President of the Vedanta Football Project also spoke on the occasion: "It will be an honour to support Government initiatives like Khelo India and we will be extending all possible support to our young athletes."

SESA Football Academy is one of the first residential academies in India. Established in 1999, with currently two running campuses, the academy has the unique distinction of developing the highest number of players for the national team, the ISL teams, the I-League teams and the Goa Pro League from the state of Goa.