Kolkata , September 17,2022 : On the auspicious Day of Viswakarma Puja, Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club has announced today “Merlin RISE CSJC Football Tournament 2022” in collaboration with the Merlin Group. The tournament will be played at Merlin Rise Football Ground – at Rajarhat on September 20 and September 21, 2022.
At a formal function ,former star footballers Prasanta Banerjee and Dipendu Biswas in presence of Shri Saket Mohta, MD, Merlin Group and Shri Satyen Sanghvi, Director, Merlin Group and all members of Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club and team managers. The endeavour to promote sports among journalists post covid is a much sought after break and rejuvenating activity taken forward by Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club. Merlin Group, that always promotes sports, has come forward to make it a success.
Media houses known to fight it out for the latest ‘breaking news’ will be competing among them for a coveted trophy this time in the Merlin RISE CSJC Media football tournament 2022. This five-a-side football tournament will see some of the top media houses of the city vying for top honours. Back after an unfortunate Covid-induced break, the tournament will be held in a much bigger grandeur at the Merlin RISE Sports City, Newtown on September 20 and 21.
As the name suggests, the venue provides top notch sporting facilities and the media people are looking forward to having a feel of that. No wonder the tournament received overwhelming response from the media houses this time. The tournament will be played in two groups with teams from the print media and the audio-visual media. A separate winner will be crowned in each section. The two-day tournament will see participation from almost 16 sides.
Speaking on the occasion , Shri Saket Mohta, MD, Merlin Group said, “We at Merlin staunchly believe in sporting activities to keep our body and mind fit. Our Sports City Merlin Rise has partnered with international sporting icons like Brazilian star Ronaldinho, Yuvraj Singh and Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps for setting up their academies. Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff will also set up his MMA academy here. We are very delighted to support Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club by organizing the tournament at our playground. We urge all media houses to participate in this grand tournament specially post covid, it is much needed activity to boost your health.”
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Satyen Sanghvi, Director, Merlin Group said, “Our R10 Academy , championed by the Brazilian soccer icon Ronalidinho is already operational at Merlin Rise. Around 50 kids have already enrolled in the programme. We are adhering to the International standards in football training and all the modules are exclusively designed by R10.The programme is a holistic approach towards developing Sportsmanship & Team spirit in the kids. The coaches are handpicked and specially trained by R10 for maintaining quality standards. Our Yuvraj Singh Center of Excellence has also started operations and over 25 students have already enrolled in the program. We intend to grow to full capacity in a few months from now.We wish all the participants the very best and hope the tournament is a grand success. Merlin Rise-The Sports Republic is a first of its kind sports township in Eastern India and boasts of state-of -the-art infrastructure with provision for Indoor and outdoor area with flood lights for night football and cricket.”
CSJC President Suven Raha said, “The media football tournament is always a look-forward to event of The Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club. We are glad to restart it after the Covid break and thank the Merlin Group to come forward and help us organize it well.”
CSJC hony secretary Archiman Bhaduri said, “This tournament is an occasion to fight on the ground and make new friends thereafter. I am sure our partnership with Merlin Group will also kick off from here.”
The Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club (CSJC), founded way back in 1956, is the only such organization in Eastern India that is run by only sports journalists of the media world. Over the years it has established itself as an important platform of interaction between sportspersons of the state and the Fourth Estate.
The club has played a big role in the spreading of sporting culture in the State by helping in giving wide coverage to various such events over the years.
Spread over a sprawling area in Rajarhat, “Merlin RISE – Sports Republic” is a self-sufficient township with all amenities required for today’s modern living. Besides associating with “RONALDINHO – R10 FOOTBALL ACADEMY , Merlin Rise will also house the state of the art cricket academy by Yuvraj Singh- YSCE ; The swimming academy of MICHAEL PHELPS —- – “MICHAEL PHELPS SWIMMING” and India’s state of the art “MMA MATRIX TRAINING CENTRE” BY TIGER SHROFF .