Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham invests Rs 100 cr to launch football academy

FC Madras, a youth academy accredited by national governing body AIFF, has unveiled a world-class football facility at Mahabalipuram, about 60 km away from Chennai.

Fifty boys have been shortlisted after a country-wide scouting programme, a press release said here, adding 2,416 had been taken in for trials from which the top 100 were invited to Chennai for a seven-day rigorous camp. The selected 50 boys will form the academy's first batch, the release further said.

According to software firm Freshworks founder-CEO Girish Mathrubootham, founder of FC Madras: "It is encouraging to see the government and private companies take a bigger interest in sports and its infrastructure, and with the new FC Madras campus, I believe we have taken another step forward to inspire other leaders and businesses to create similar academies because our future champions need it."

According to media reports, Mathrubootham has invested Rs 100 crore from personal capacity towards the building of this academy.

FC Madras offers a scholarship programme for talented young footballers selected through a rigorous nationwide scouting programme. The aim of the academy is to be one of the best finishing schools for football in India that will produce players who will represent India internationally, the release said.

The 23-acre integrated campus, opened on Saturday, houses state-of-the-art floodlit football pitches including a hybrid pitch, a functional strength and conditioning centre, medical and recovery facilities, an indoor international-standard futsal pitch, a six-lane swimming pool, a residential hostel and an alternate learning centre that follows the NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) curriculum.

Abhishek Yadav, former Deputy General Secretary of AIFF and former captain of the Indian national football team, would be the CEO. Venkatesh Shanmugan, a former Indian team captain and former assistant coach of the national team, would be the new Technical Director of Football, after his current stint with East Bengal FC.

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