Blind children wish luck to National Football Team

Kolkata : Children of National Association for the Blind (NAB) extended their support and wished good luck to the National Football Team by signing a ‘giant message board’ for the Doha Asia Cup, 2011.

NAB, in co-ordination with BLUECHIP Projects, organised an event on Tuesday where the signed messages were handed to the Football Players Association of India (FPAI), who in turn will pass it to the Indian Team in Doha.

Present at the event were Ishfaq Ahmed and Nirmal Chhetri.

Along with the star footballers was also present Kalyan Majumder (secretary, East Bengal Football Club) and others.

Speaking on the occasion, Kanchan Gaba, Head of (NAB) said, “We believe in empathy and not sympathy. There is a misconception that blinds only deserve affection from the society. But they can also give to the society.”

“Our children also enjoy football as you do. So this time, 1,000 of our children took this initiative to show their support to the National Team for the Asia Cup,” she added.

Speaking to the media, Nirmal Chhetri said, “Today, I am here as a representative of FPAI. I really appreciate and feel proud for what the children have done. It will surely be a morale booster. As it will represent a virtual support of 1,000 hearts to the team in Doha.”

On the event India captain, Baichung Bhutia and Subrata Paul, via mobile conferencing, expressed their gratitude to all the well wishers of the national team.

The Asia Cup 2011 kickstarts on Jan 7, next year where India will first face Australia on Jan 10.