Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham pours in Rs 100 cr to setup a football academy at Mahabalipuram

The youth academy - FC Madras, accredited by national governing body AIFF, has come up with a world-class football facility at Mahabalipuram in Chennai.

As per the press release, after a nation-wide scouting programme 50 boys have been shortlisted which will form the academy's first batch. It also mentioned that 2,416 had been taken in for trials from which the top 100 were invited to Chennai for a seven-day rigorous camp.

According to software firm Freshworks founder-CEO Girish Mathrubootham, founder of FC Madras, "It is encouraging to see the government and private companies take a bigger interest in sports and its infrastructure, and with the new FC Madras campus, I believe we have taken another step forward to inspire other leaders and businesses to create similar academies because our future champions need it."

As per media reports, Mathrubootham has poured in an amount of Rs 100 crore from personal capacity towards the building of this academy.

FC Madras offers a scholarship programme for talented young footballers selected through a rigorous nationwide scouting programme. The aim of the academy is to be one of the best finishing schools for football in India that will produce players who will represent India internationally, the release said.

The campus is spread across 23-acre which includes state-of-the-art floodlit football pitches including a hybrid pitch, a functional strength and conditioning centre, medical and recovery facilities, an indoor international-standard futsal pitch, a six-lane swimming pool, a residential hostel and an alternate learning centre that follows the NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) curriculum.

Former Deputy General Secretary of AIFF and former captain of the Indian national football team, Abhishek Yadav will take up the position of CEO. Venkatesh Shanmugan, a former Indian team captain and former assistant coach of the national team, would be the new Technical Director of Football, after his current stint with East Bengal FC.