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Guwahati, June 26: The Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) yesterday formally launched the first football academy in Upper Assam involving 40 youngsters from within a radius of 10km from the refinery in Golaghat district as the first batch.
Inaugurating the academy in the presence of Assam Football Association (AFA) secretary Ankur Dutta, NRL managing director Dipak Chakraborty said the initiative was under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the refinery and a part of the Assam Accord. If the initiative proves successful, the academy would be turned into a full-fledged one, he said.
The academy is at present operating at the Numaligarh High School ground on a non-residential basis where Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon is appointed the technical director and Fifa coach Ranjeeth of Bangalore is the chief coach. Bangalore physiotherapist Brijesh Patel has been appointed physio of the academy. “Besides, there will be a coach from the state to assist the others,” NRL manager, CSR, P.K. Sarma told The Telegraph over phone from Numaligarh.
“We have plans to make it a full-fledged academy if the initial efforts pay off,” Chakraborty said.
The 40 trainees inducted as the first batch were selected from a trial, attended by 140 aspirants from the area, by Bruzon and Ranjeeth earlier this month.
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