Vedanta's SESA Football Academy continues to foster skill development in sports across the country

• SFA felicitates 27 graduates of 2020 batch at the convocation ceremony through a virtual platform.
• Vedanta continues its commitment towards supporting budding footballing talents through grassroots training programs, despite turbulent & difficult business situation

Mumbai,30 June 2020: SESA Football Academy (SFA), a flagship CSR program of Vedanta which aims to identify, nurture and groom young footballing talents in the country, felicitated young graduates during Convocation Ceremony 2020 through virtual platforms. 27 boys who completed their football training at SFA were felicitated and awarded with E-certificates in the distinguished presence of Mr. Annanya Agarwal (President- Sesa Football Academy), Mr. Sauvick Mazumdar (CEO- Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business), Mr. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar (former Captain of Indian football team and Arjuna Awardee),Mr. Denzil Franco (Former Indian team player, ISL player and an SFA alumnus) and Ms. Leena Verenkar (Head- Group CSR , Vedanta Limited).

The event witnessed an active impressive line-up of core team members of SESA Football Academy and young sports enthusiasts cheering for the graduating students and wishing them for their future endeavors.

Sesa Football Academy was established in the year 1999 with an aim to identify, nurture, create platforms and build talent for Indian football. Till date, around 200 footballers have graduated from the academy. Apart from this, football initiatives undertaken by SFA have also positively impacted over 500 young players belonging to Goa and other cities of the country through various grassroot training programs. The residential academies provide systematic and robust football training through its team of national and international football experts, along with formal education of the trainees during the training period.

While congratulating the graduating batch, Mr. Annanya Agarwal, President, Sesa Football Academy said, “I am extremely happy and equally proud to see that we could produce another talented pool of 27 footballers, who will be next generation football icons of the nation. In line with our vision to contribute towards development of Indian football through robust grassroots training programs, we at SFA are taking significant steps in providing world class training to budding footballers to nurture their talent and groom them as professional footballers. I wish all our graduating players great success and a bright future.”

The SFA alumni have very good track records, making their mark in premier national football platformsincluding Indian national team, ISL teams and other prestigious football clubs across the country.

Mr. Sauvick Mazumdar, CEO of Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business said, “ At Vedanta, community engagement is at the core of our business philosophy. Sesa Football Academy, developed on reclaimed Sanquelim mine with an aim to provide a training platform for Goan youths, has immensely contributed to Goan football &nation at large.Despite difficult business situations for past several years, Vedanta has continued with our flagship CSR initiatives, especially SFA,to ensure uninterrupted contribution towards development of Indian football. I congratulate all our graduating students and wish them a very bright &successful footballing career.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Brahmanand Sankhwalkar,former Captain of Indian football team and Arjuna Awardeesaid, “ SFA has been doing praiseworthy work for the football community in Goa and country at large. The academy is producing good football talent by grooming them through grassroot training programs. I am happy to see these young players get such amazing training opportunity at SFA which is helping them pursue their career in football”.

Former Indian Football team player and SESA Football Academy alumnus, Mr. Denzil Franco congratulated all players and said, “ I take pride in being a part of SFA. Contribution of SFA towards honing skills of young and talented footballers of Goa is immensely commendable. I am confident that the students graduating today from SFA will achieve greater heights and bring laurels for the academy boosting its legacy further."

SESA Football Academy also aims to raise the standard of women’s football in the country through Vedanta Women's League, which is helping in development of women footballers by providing them a platform to showcase and hone their talent. Vedanta’s contribution in development of sports is recognised by FICCI, and was conferred “Best Organisation Contributing in Sports through CSR” at the FICCI India Sports Awards 2019.

About Vedanta Limited

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and Australia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing to India’s growth story, currently contributing 1 percent of India’s GDP. The company is among the top private sector contributors to the exchequer with the highest ever contribution of INR 42,560 Crore in FY 2019. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company has been conferred the CII-ITC Sustainability Award, the FICCI CSR Award, Dun & Bradstreet Awards in Metals & Mining, and certified as a Great Place to Work. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com

About Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business

Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business of Vedanta Limited is engaged in exploration, mining and processing of iron ore. The company was founded in 1954 as Scambi Economici SA Goa and acquired by Vedanta. Since then, it has grown to be one among the top low-cost producers of iron ore in the country. During 1991-1995, it diversified into the manufacture of pig iron and metallurgical coke. It has also developed indigenous and environment-friendly technology for producing high quality metallurgical coke. Sesa Goa Iron Ore also has a 60 MW power plant that produces clean power by using the waste heat recovery from its coke ovens and blast furnace gas. Sesa Goa Iron Ore operations in India are in Goa & Karnataka.

About SESA Football Academy:

An initiative of SESA Community Development Foundation (SCDF), SESA Football Academy (SFA) was founded in 1999 for the holistic development of the local youths through football. The academy has created the conditions for discovering, creating and building talent for football. SFA does not restrict itself to football trainings but involves in a long term residential program which takes care of the formal education, skill development of the trainees during the four-year training period.

The academy has a strong focus on women empowerment through football. Since inception, SFA has trained around 200 footballers and has made tremendous impact on the football fraternity in Goa as well as across India. The graduates from SFA are serving in the national teams, Indian Super League (ISL), I-League clubs of India and clubs in Goa. 7 players have earned the national team cap and several players played the elite ISL .