Manipur CM N Biren Singh felicitates footballers

Our Correspondent
Imphal, May 9 (EMN): Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh felicitated 43 footballers from the state, who are playing for different premier football clubs in the Indian Super League (ISL).

Expressing his happiness over the development, Singh presented a Leirum Lengyan (a traditional muffler) to each of the footballers during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s official bungalow in Imphal on May 8.

Sharing a brief video of the meeting with the footballers in a Facebook post, Singh wrote, “It was a pleasure meeting all the Indian Super League players from Manipur at my official residence. Today, I’m very proud that a small state like Manipur which has a population of nearly 30 lakh population is able to contribute 43 players in the ISL”.

The footballer turned journalist and subsequently turned politician further wrote, “We must take pride that we are contributing more footballers in ISL than West Bengal, which has a population of over 10 crore. Currently, 30 players from West Bengal are playing in the ISL”.

Happy to honour all of them with a Leirum lengyan today, he added.

It may be mentioned that the ISL is co-promoted by Reliance, Star India and supported by the All India Football Federation. Presently, eleven football clubs are playing in the ISL.

India’s leading industrialists and celebrities from sports as well as the Indian film industry have heavily invested in the league’s 11 franchises based in the following cities – Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Jamshedpur.