NDPP lauds AIFF for renaming junior girls’ c’ship after Dr. T Ao

DIMAPUR — The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) lauded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for rechristening the Junior Girls’ National Championship as the ‘Dr. Talimeren Ao National Football Championship for Junior Girls’.

The NDPP expressed gratitude to the AIFF under the leadership of Kalyan Chaubey, its president, and praised the initiatives and contributions of the government of Nagaland, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, as well as the Nagaland Football Association (NFA) under the leadership of its president and AIFF executive member, Neibu Sekhose, for making this possible.

In a press release, the NDPP noted that the government of Nagaland has continued to honour the memory of the state’s first Olympian and captain of the Indian football team by instituting the highest sports award as the “Dr. T Ao State Sports Award” and laying the foundation for the establishment of the Dr. T Ao Football Academy and the naming of the premier inter-district football tournament as the Dr. T Ao Inter-District Football Trophy.

Further, it mentioned the government’s initiation of the first Dr. T Ao North East Football Championship, hosted in Nagaland, which is now a regular annual event; the commemoration of Dr. T Ao’s 100th birth anniversary through a year-long programme culminating in the Dr. T Ao Memorial Lecture at the Raj Bhawan in Kohima, delivered by Bhaichung Bhutia, another legend and former captain of the Indian football team; and the publication of a coffee table book and the production of a documentary on the life and achievements of Dr. T Ao.

Stating that while the national-level acknowledgement of the achievements and contributions of the former captain of the Indian football team has been long overdue, it said the decision and announcement by the current team of the AIFF will now ensure that the name and memory of Dr. T Ao will forever be remembered, and that his achievements will continue to inspire the present and future generations of sportspersons in Nagaland as well as across the country.

Also read: NDPP congratulates first Naga Paralympian