Dhanbad: SAIL Football Academy of Bokaro Steel at Mohan Kumar Mangalam Stadium has been accredited with two-star rating by All India Football Federation (AIFF), the apex governing body of football in the country.
"SAIL Football Academy, Bokaro, is the only sports entity of the entire SAIL fraternity to receive a two-star accreditation by All India Football Federation," read a press release.
Besides, Bokaro has also been shortlisted by AIFF as one of the centres for holding selection trials for Olympics, Asian Games (U-23), FIFA (U-17) World Cup 2019 and Asian Football Confederation (U-16 & U-23).
Chief coach of SAIL Football Academy, Bokaro, Subhash Rajak, said the rating, which would be valid for the year 2018-19, would help players of the academy compete against prestigious football clubs like East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Salgaocar Football Club.
"The rating has also elevated the status of our academy to participate in Youth League U-18," added Rajak.
Currently as many as 36 players of U-17 category are undergoing training at Mohan Kumar Mangalam Stadium in Bokaro. "We are providing free food and accommodation to the players at trainees' hostel in Bokaro," said Rajak.
According to Rajak, the rating is awarded on the basis of several factors like performance of players at national tournaments, infrastructure, accommodation arrangements for players, ground condition and experience of coaches.
"We had got single star rating in 2016-17. Our performance at various tournaments last year was quite impressive as we won the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament at New Delhi in September 2017. Besides several trainees of SAIL Football Academy had also performed well at national and international meets," added Rajak.
There is a panel of four coaches at SAIL academy including Subhash Rajak, Md Salim, Madan Ram and Praveen Nath who had participated in several national and international tournaments. "Trainees are selected for a tenure of three years from different places like Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Bengal," he added.
