Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 23: In a very encouraging development in local football scene, four talented footballers from Jammu namely, Arun Naghial, Karun Raina, Gagan Deep Singh and Amrit Pal Singh, hailing from different clubs of DFA Jammu, who appeared for selection trials at Pavilion Ground, Dehradun have been shortlisted for player grading and bidding and will eventually play the 1st edition of Uttarakhand Super League (USL) from June 15 to July 15.
USL has taken a leaf out of Indian Super League (ISL) and will follow the same format. It will include 14 franchisee teams, playing 61 USL matches at venues in 5 different cities of Uttarakhand. The much promoted mega league is being fully recognized and supported by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Uttrakhand State Football Association (USFA). Each team will have a maximum of 25 players at its disposal which will include 6 local u-19 players, 15 national players and 4 foreign players.
USL franchisee bidding will take place on May 29 which will be followed by player’s bidding on 1st June. Teams will fight it out for a winning prize of Rs 15,00,000 and Runner’s-up prize of Rs 10,00,000. The event will also give away individual prizes for man of the match, player of the tournament and golden boot etc.
Former international footballer and Indian captain, Bhaichung Bhutia has been appointed the USL brand ambassador and former international player, Arun Malhotra, who hails from Jammu, is the chief selector and technical advisor at USL. Arun Malhotra is presently employed with ONGC at Dehradun and is also a member of J&K State Sports Council.
Virendra Rawat, son of Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, is heading the league tournament as USL Chairman and in a press conference held today he emphasized that the ultimate aim of the USL is to promote opportunity, energy and enthusiasm in football. He also wanted to use this as a platform to create awareness towards drug-free sports among the youth of the state and country.
Arun Malhotra hoped that this will inject more interest in footballers from his home city of Jammu to work hard and explore opportunities in professional football beyond our State. He also hoped that local football bodies take more interest in identifying and promoting such talent in the region which fortunately has plenty of it, but unfortunately, is being neglected in recent times.
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