T H EF O O T B A L L

L I N KINTERNATIONAL CLUBS | 5IN THE PIPELINE | 25 SOCIAL INITIATIVES | 9//////

SPECIAL EDITION - NOV 2012 FEATURE - INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2012

This magazine aims to highlight the opinions and interests of football lovers across India. This special edition covers TheFootballLink International Festival 2012 held at the Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi from the 6th to 13th of October.

By spreading the message of football, TheFootballLink provides a platform for football enthusiasts to connect with each other and organize various initiatives in football; to support, participate and contribute to the growth of the game.

TRUE TO THE PLAYER. TRUE TO THE GAME.

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LEGACY OF INDIAN FOOTBALL An insight into the glorious past of Indian football

CAN FOOTBALL A campaign revolving around 6 questions to highlight ways in which football can benefit our country

INTERNATIONAL CLUB PARTNERS AC Milan Junior Camp, Italy & Manchester City Football Club, England

SPONSORS/PARTNERS An overview of the contributors to the International Festival 2012

MEDIA COVERAGE The largest football festival ever organized in India

TESTIMONIALS International Coaches, Scouts & Agents sharing their experiences

CYCLE OF FOOTBALL Business, Social & Performance aspects of Football

PAST INITIATIVES Initiatives organized by TheFootballLink

BOOK PREVIEW Stop Dribbling, Pass Now!

IN THE PIPELINE Find out what the future holds in store for TFL

P R E L U D E

S P O T L I G H T

F E A T U R E

I N S I G H T

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CONTENTS

Football started its journey in India when the British rulers brought it with them

and in no time, it became popular among the masses. The first recorded game held in India took place between the Calcutta Club of Civilians and The Gentlemen of Barrackpore in 1854. The first ever football club in the history of Indian Football, the Calcutta FC was established in 1872.

In 1898, the oldest in India and also the third oldest football tournament in the world, the Durand Cup football tournament was started in Shimla. The first mentionable achievement for the Indians in Football came in 1911, when Mohun Bagan AC became the first Indian team to win the

IFA-Shield Trophy. The AIFF got affiliation from the international governing body for Football, FIFA in 1948 and it was also one of the founder members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954.

The period from 1951 to 1962 is considered the golden era in Indian football. Under the tutelage of legendary Syed Abdul Rahim, India became the best team in Asia. The Indian team started the 1950s with their triumph in the 1951 Asian Games which they hosted. India then went on to finish second in the 1954 Asian Games held in Manila. At the 1956 Olympic Games they finished fourth, which is regarded as one of finest achievements in Indian football.

Legacy of Indian Football

India has hosted its first-ever international football friendly with Argentina beating Venezuela one-nil in the eastern city of Calcutta.BBC World | 2 SEPTEMBER 2011

Tata Tea team wins Under-15 crown in Arsenal tourneyZEE NEWS | 7 SEP 2011

India defeat Afghanistan to retain the SAFF CupNDTV | 11 DECEMBER 2011

Bayern Munich make Baichung Bhutia testimonial an occasion to cherish for lifeTIMES OF INDIA | 11 JANUARY 2012

FC Barcelona sets up football school in DelhiSPORTSKEEDA.COM | 16 MAY 2012

India rejoices at Nehru Cup trebleFIFA.com | 3 September 2012

Didier Drogba visits Delhi for the Pepsi T20 Football Tournament Grande FinaleTIMES OF INDIA | 18 JUNE 2012

Bharti Airtel and Manchester United to kick-off youngsters’ football dreamsECONOMIC TIMES | 26 JUNE 2012

Football Link International Festival kicks offINDIAN EXPRESS | 9TH OCTOBER 2012

Diego Maradona arrived in Kerala to a tumultuous welcomeTHE HINDU | 24 OCTOBER 2012

Luis Figo to don Goa colours in friendlyTIMES OF INDIA | 28 OCTOBER 2012

IMG-Reliance in talks with Chelsea to develop football academy in IndiaECONOMIC TIMES | 10 NOV 2012

Latest in Indian Football

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Hindustan Times presents

TheFootballLinkInternational Festival 2012

The success of Football relies on how effectively its message can be spread

to the billion people across India. These festivals and talent scouting initiatives act as a communication platform to spread this message and at the same time gives an opportunity to everyone across the country to benefit from football.

The Football link International Festival 2012 was the largest Football Festival ever organized in India and saw the participation of more than 5000 football players. The festival was organized in partnership with AC Milan Junior Camp, Italy & Manchester City Football Club, England. There were multiple tournaments featuring more than 400 teams - 80 team School Championship, 64 team Corporate Championship, 256 team F-cube College/Club Championship, 8 team NGO Tournament - Coaching & Scouting camp and various Social initiatives revolving around underpriviliged children.

The success of the festival was due to the combined efforts of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Hindustan Times, Turkish Airlines, Rishi Narain Sports Marketing, Blackberry, Coke, Hero, Sara Towels, Special Olympics Bharat, Literacy India, Prive Networks, Thyagaraj Stadium management & staff, Delhi Development Authority Sports and numerous other supportors and contributors of the festival.

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FasdasdaAC Milan is a professional Italian football club playing in the Serie A. They are one of the world’s most successful football clubs with 18 international trophies officially recognized by UEFA and FIFA. Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A.

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FasdasdaManchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester, England. They are the current title holders of the English Premier League and have become a force to reckon with under the leadership of coach Roberto Mancini. They boast a star studded lineup including David Silva, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany amongst others.

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Manchester City FC academy coach Nick Cushing conducting a drill during the Coaching & Skill Evaluation Camp

The finals of the 256 team FCube Championship between Delhi Leo’s and ISS Football Club

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Corporate teams of AIFF and IBM competing in the league stage of the 64 team Corporate Championship

Two players fighting for possession during the Fcube Championship qualifiers

Winners of the School Girls Championship - Modern School, Barakhamba Road (red) in action against Bharti Public School, Mayur Vihar

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Flower for a Ch ldiA healthy and spirited life through physical activity is essential for the holistic development of children. A sport like football is a highly effective tool to nurture a child’s physical, psychological and mental development while also building valuable social connections in a fun environment. To ensure that underprivileged children can also benefit from football, TheFootballLink has initiated ‘Flower for a child’ social campaign to enable these children to participate in all our initiatives.

As part of this social campaign, hand crafted, eco-friendly & sustainable Japanese clay flowers are sold to raise funds for equipment and coaching support of these budding footballers. These flowers have a lifetime of more than 20 years, and serve as a reminder of the joy that society collectively can bring about on an underprivileged child’s face.

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FasdasdaIn the festival, 8 NGO teams participated in the NGO tournament with Literacy India emerging as the winners. 75 talented NGO children also participated in the Coaching & Skill Evaluation Camp conducted by the International Coaches

FasdasdaAC Milan coach Danilo Tedoldi conducting a shooting drill with children from the Salaam Baalak Trust during day 4 of the coaching camp

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FasdasdaParticipants queuing to collect their prize money and certificates at the final day of the festival

SPONSORS/PARTNERS

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Hero is the world’s largest manufacturer of two - wheelers, based in India. In 2001, the company achieved the coveted position of being the largest two-wheeler manufacturing company in India and also, the ‘World No.1’ two-wheeler company in terms of unit volume sales in a calendar year. Hero MotoCorp Ltd. continues to maintain this position till date.

Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered in the Turkish Airlines General Management Bakırköy, Istanbul. It operates scheduled services to 163 international and 41 domestic cities (38 domestic airports), serving a total of 204 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Hindustan Times is one of India’s most respected and leading English dailies. Hindustan Times has been pioneering trends in journalism, setting standards and breaking new ground for the last 80 years. Spurred by the leading faces of Indian journalism, Hindustan Times has evolved with the times, reflecting the changing India and is today the newspaper of choice of over 3.7 million Indians.

Research In Motion (RIM) develops integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless networks. RIM is best known for creating the BlackBerry® smartphone and providing solutions that allow seamless, mobile access to time-sensitive information through email, phone, text messages, the Internet and applications.

The ‘NDTV - Coca-Cola Support My School’ campaign was initiated in January 2011 with a vision to address issues such as access to drinking water, sanitation and infrastructure facilities in schools and to create healthy, active and happy environment at schools. The campaign has touched the lives of over 43,000 children across 10 states in India, while helping to significantly reduce dropouts and absenteeism and also increase enrolments in the revitalized schools.

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Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) is the premier association governing football across the Delhi and NCR region and is a member body of the All India Football Federation.

Established in 1927, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India. A non-government, not-for-profit organisation, FICCI is the voice of India’s business and industry. FICCI draws its membership from the corporate sector, both private and public, and enjoys an indirect membership of over 2,50,000 companies from various regional chambers of commerce.

Yatra.com is India’s leading online travel company. Positioned as a brand “Creating Happy Travellers”, it provides information, pricing, availability, and booking facility for domestic and international air travel, railway reservation, hotel bookings, holiday packages, buses, and car rentals.

Sara Textiles Limited (STL) is the third largest producer of terry towels in India and exports its products to Europe, USA, Australia and the Middle East.

SARA GROUP

Indian roots. Global reach.

Rishi Narain Sports Management Pvt Ltd (RNSM) is a company engaged in partnering leading corporates in profitably growing their businesses through Marketing & Brand Positioning solutions using sports as the communication platform.

Football First India is a leading football coaching company with a focus on developing grassroot level football in India. They aim to promote a healthy lifestyle among individuals, introduce world class coaching methodologies and encourage the partipaticipation of girls & underprivileged children in football.

‘Chetan Misra, 30, is a football enthusiast who tapped into India’s boom of cultivating champions’TEHELKA MAGAZINE

‘FootballFirst plans to hold tournaments for even younger kids to discover India’s very own Messi’s and Rooney’s’CNN-IBN

‘FootballFirst Sports, a young budding company aiming to promote the beautiful game’THEHARDTACKLE

‘TheFootballLink – aimed at bringing together all the pre-requisites for the growth of the sport at grassroots levels in the Capital’THE ASIAN AGE

‘Largest ever display of football talent in the country’SPORTSKEEDA.COM

‘Over 4,000 football players of all age groups come together to take part in the largest football festival of the country’JET AIRWAYS INFLIGHT MAGAZINE

‘Enjoy a week of football at the Thyagraj Stadium’SUNDAY STANDARD

‘World Class Coaching at the FootballLink International Festival’ HINDUSTAN TIMES

‘AC Milan and Manchester City coaches to train children in Delhi’ TIMES OF INDIA

‘TheFootballLink International festival kicks off ’JANSATTA

‘The largest football festival in the country kicks off ’ NEWS.LOTSBUZZ.COM

MEDIA COVERAGE

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‘Former AC Milan player Claudio Balesini said that focus would be on identifying players with potential’NDTV SPORTS

‘TheFootballLink International Fest kicks off ’THE INDIAN EXPRESS

‘Top international coaches to train kids of the Capital’STATESMAN

‘TheFootballLink International Festival with AC Milan & Manchester city scouts begins today’BUSINESS STANDARD

‘Week long football showcase begins at the Capital’THE SPORTSMIRROR.COM

‘Footballing Mega Event with multiple tournaments to begin this Sunday’ HINDUSTAN TIMES ‘Coaches from Manchester City and AC Milan lined up for the TFLIF’AMAR UJALA

‘Exciting week long Football Festival’DAINIK JAGRAN

TheFootballLink International Festival ends with a bang’PUNJAB KESARI

‘The Week long TheFootballLink International festival ends today!’MAIL TODAY

‘Week long football extravaganza with International Coaches in Delhi’CURRICULUM MAGAZINE

‘Football festival with a social difference’YAHOO! NEWS

‘I think this event was a great success and a very good promotion of football in India. I noticed a good level of ability from a technical\tactics point of view and very good physical skills of participants, which surprised me a lot. Certainly, football in india will grow gradually in the near future and this will be depend a lot on the coaching level and on what kind of investments can be done in order to support the development of football in this country’ CLAUDIO BALESINIFormer proffesional football player who works as a football trainer and supervisor with AC Milan since 2006

‘The Football Link International Festival was a very exciting event, that could give a big opportunity and huge exposure to local players, giving them the opportunity to improve their skills under the supervision of top coaches from AC Milan and Manchester City. This initiative was very important for Indian Football and could give a great opportunity to unprivileged kids to enjoy and an opportunity for coaches to see new talents. I hope this Festival will keep growing and that next edition will be even more successful’DEBORA ZOLIPlayer Agent

The Football Link International Festival was great and the presence of top coaches made the event even more exciting. For sure, it is an event that must be repeated, as this would allow indian football to grow. Also, it is a great opportunity for kids and talents to have more visibility from coaches and scouts from abroad. GIANLUCA MARINIFIFA Agent & founder of GMSA

‘The Football Link International Festival was great and the presence of top coaches made the event even more exciting. For sure, it is an event that must be repeated, as this would allow indian football to grow. Also, it is a great opportunity for kids and talents to have more visibility from coaches and scouts from abroad’ GIANLUCA MARINIFIFA Agent & founder of GMSA

‘Such festivals are very important to encourage talent at the grassroot level. The kids displayed excellent potential, talent and enthusiasm. The model is great and the whole festival including the training camps were well organized’NICHOLAS CUSHINGAcademy Coach at Manchester City Football Club

‘The Football Festival was very well organized and all the local staff was very professional and prepared. Surely it is an event that can bring a certain importance to football in India and give a huge opportunity to the kids to improve their skills in this sport’DANILO TEDOLDIFormer Inter Milan player and currently works as a technical manager of the AC Milan Junior Camp

‘I think the country has real potential for elite players due to their passion for football, its large population and their desire to learn and take on new challenges’LEWIS CHILDSAcademy Coach at Manchester City Football Club

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5000+ FOOTBALL PLAYERS2560 GOALS

800+ PARENTS450 FOOTBALL KITS

155 UNDERPRIVILEGED KIDS150 COLLEGES

120+ INDIAN COACHES100+ MEDIA COVERAGE

80 MEDALS72 SCHOOLS

65 HOURS OF LEARNING64 CORPORATES

40 REFEREES35 BEST PLAYER SHIELDS

20 TROPHIES8 NGO PARTNERS

7 DAYS6 AGE GROUPS

4 INTERNATIONAL COACHES3 SKILL EVALUATION CAMPS

2 INTERNATIONAL CLUB PARTNERS:MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

AC MILAN JUNIOR CAMP1 BEAUTIFUL GAME

TheFootballLink International Festival 2012

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INVEST INTO A SPORT[MONETARY & HUMAN RESOURCE]

FOOTBALL PLAYERS: TRAINING EQUIPMENTINVESTORS: EQUITY LOANSFANS: ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANDISEGOVERNMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL WELFARECORPORATE: ADVERTISING BRAND BUILDING CSR

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CONVERT FANS INTO CUSTOMERSPRODUCTS: DIRECT INDIRECTSERVICES: DIRECT INDIRECT

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GENERATE REVENUE FOR FURTHER INVESTMENTS

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CYCL FOOT

A PERFECT BALANC PERFORMANCE, SO

ASPIRATIONS OF

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E OF BALL

GROW THEECOSYSTEM PERFORMANCE: COACHING SCOUTINGSOCIAL: HEALTHY LIFESTYLE ENTERTAINMENT CHILD DEVELOPMENTR&D: TECHNICAL PAPERS EDUCATION TRAININGAWARENESS: SEMINARS FESTIVALS MEDIAUNDERPRIVILEGED: UPLIFTMENT OPPORTUNITYBUSINESS: INVESTMENT PROFESSION ADVERTISING

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BUILD A FAN BASELOYALTYLIFESTYLEENTERTAINMENTPRIDE

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E OF BALL

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E BETWEEN THE CIAL & BUSINESS A COMMUNITY

INTERNAL LINK[DEMAND]

B Y L I N K I N G T H E T H E F O O

W I L L P L A N , C R E A T E ,V A R I O U S

T O P R O M O T E

FOOTBALLPLAYERS

NG

Os

COLLEGES

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INTERNAL LINK[SUPPLY]

EXTERNAL LINK

F O O T B A L L C O M M U N I T Y T B A L L L I N K P U B L I C I Z E & E X E C U T E I N I T I A T I V E S F O O T B A L L I N I N D I A

BUSINESSSOCIAL

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PERFORMANCE | HEALTHY LIFESTYLE | RESEARCH | ENTERTAINMENT | AWARENESS | UNDERPRIVILIGED

COACHING ACADEMIES [7]

IIT FESTSTREET FUTSAL

COACHES WORKSHOPS [6]

250 CHILDREN

128 PLAYERS

SUMMER CAMPS [3]

CORPORATE EVENTS [2]

COACHING MANUALS [16]

EVALUATION CAMPS [9]

JUNIOR LEAGUE

ADVANCED TRAINING

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PAST INITIATIVES...

350 CHILDREN

550 CHILDREN 80 CORPORATES

300+ PLAYERS20 SCHOOLS

90 COACHES

CASE STUDIES [24]

INDIAN SCENARIO

PERFORMANCE | HEALTHY LIFESTYLE | RESEARCH | ENTERTAINMENT | AWARENESS | UNDERPRIVILIGED

550 TEAMS 140 COACHES

250 CHILDREN3 INTL CLUBS80 SCHOOLS

INTERNATIONALFESTIVALS [2]

NGO TOURNAMENTS

SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

COACHES SEMINARS [3]

FCUBE FUTSAL [15]

MEDIA CAMPAIGNS [10]

Flower for A CHILD

NGO COACHING [6]

COACHING CAMPS [12]

SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS [8]

COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS [7]

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1200 CHILDREN 200+ COVERAGES 16 NGO TEAMS

400 CHILDREN600 CHILDREN

Book Preview

STOP DRIBBLING PASS NOWby Chetan Misra (Founder, TheFootballLink)

‘Why football, the world’s most popular sport, is giving us Indians a lot less than it gives to people in other countries? We can produce the world’s brightest minds but are unable to produce world class footballers, not because we lack the ability but because we lack trust. We need to unite and work for each other instead of working for ourselves. We need to give every child an opportunity to benefit from a game’.

‘Stop Dribbling. Pass Now.’ provides a first hand insight into the current scenario of Indian Football and explores ways to grow the sport in the country.

Chetan Misra graduated from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, New Delhi and completed his Electrical Engineering/Economics degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.

During his time in the US, he explored the reasons behind the phenomenal success of the sports industry worldwide and the social/business benefits that a sport provides. Having played football throughout his school and college days, being a keen observer/coach of the game, and most importantly, an avid football fan, he researched the tremendous success of grassroots football programmes in the USA (especially for young girls) and identified ways to translate these processes and methodologies to benefit a developing country like India. In early 2010, he came back to India to pursue his passion for football, and drive a collective effort to popularize the world’s most popular game in its second most populous country.

He, along with other football enthusiasts, founded FootballFirst Sports Pvt. Ltd with a focus on setting up grassroots coaching academies. He then launched TheFootballLink Sport Pvt. Ltd, an online and on-ground football platform to connect all the stakeholders involved in football by organizing various football initiatives including camps, tournaments, festivals, seminars, leagues and more. He has also conducted various case studies to explore Indian Football and has written research papers on ways to improve the current scenario.

In 2011, he launched ‘Can Football?’, a social campaign which revolves around questions to highlight ways in which football can benefit India – To aid a healthy lifestyle, through the social benefits that a sport provides, to create jobs for a potentially huge industry, to spread happiness that a game brings, to harness our national pride as fans with India becoming a football powerhouse in Asia & the world.

He has received various accolades and recognition for his work in India and has introduced football programs to more than 20,000 children and youth across Delhi/NCR.

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IN THE PIPELINEContinuing our efforts in promoting grassroot football in India, TheFootballLink has many projects lined up for the future.

COACHING ACADEMIES[NGO, MERIT & PAID]The academies provide a platform for all children irrespective of their backgrounds to experience and learn football in accordance with the latest international coaching methodologies.

CORPORATES FOR FOOTBALLAn initiative to get our working population outdoors where they can have fun playing a popular sport, engage in a healthy lifestyle and at the same time support various football initiatives for underprivileged children.

FOOTBALL CLUBS[COMMUNITY & PROFESSIONAL]TheFootballLink plans to start numerous communities and professional clubs to provide an outlet to players where they can play football in a professional setting.

FCUBE - INDIAThe crowd favorite F-Cube now goes national! With 400 teams from 4 cities, the futsal madness gets bigger and better.

FOOTBALL FOR FUNTo popularize the beautiful game, we plan to organize football tournaments for players from all walks of life - Corporates, Colleges, Schools, NGOs & RWAs.

YOUTH FOOTBALL TALENT AWARDSTheFootballLink along with reputed international coaches and scouts will award talented youth football players from schools across India in an Annual Football Convention.

CAN FOOTBALL? DOCUMENTARIESInsider’s view into the world of Indian Football

‘CLICK TO SUPPORT’ ONLINE PLATFORMSee your team grow by pledging support for your team in an online e-commerce platform for an on-ground initiative.

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PARENT Assist in setting up an ‘Community Academy- League’ in your locality Become a parent coach/volunteer Support an underpriveleged footballer CORPORATE Adopt an NGO Sponsor a football initiative

COACH Train and manage an academy team

FOOTBALL ENTHUSIASTS Promote our initiatives Be a part of the team - Coach/Volunteer/Intern

INVESTOR Invest into the growth of Football

SEEKING YOUR SUPPORT

CANFOOTBALL?

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Football can benefit our countryAid a healthy lifestyleSocial benefits through a sportCreate jobs for a potentially huge industrySpread happinessHarness our national pride with India playing in the World Cup

If one billion people think as a country, We Can!28

©TheFootballLink Sport Pvt Ltd, 2012

TheFootballLinkK 53-A Kalkaji

New Delhi - 110019info@thefootballlink.com

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