Thiruvananthapuram: Ahead of the Santosh Trophy finals, UAE-based Malayali entrepreneur Shamsheer Vayalil has promised to give Rs one crore to the Kerala football team, if it wins the national football tournament in Malappurram on Monday.
Shamsheer is the chairman and MD of VPS Healthcare and is also the son-in-law of billionaire businessman M.A.Yusuf Ali.
Kerala is aiming to win their seventh title and are all set to meet traditional rivals West Bengal.
“It’s heartening to watch Kerala playing the final of the Santosh Trophy. The team displayed fantastic performances throughout the tournament. I hope they are able to lift one of the most coveted trophies in Indian football,” said Shamsheer, a sports enthusiast.
Shamsheer had earlier given a cash prize of Rs one crore to the Indian hockey goalkeeper P.R.Sreejesh after the team scripted a historic win at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kerala had already defeated West Bengal 2-0 in the group stages.
The tournament, hosted by Kerala after a break, has pumped up the fans. The team treated the fans to some brilliant performances, especially in the semi-finals when they secured a 7-3 victory against Karnataka.
The team with 32 titles in the history of the tournament, West Bengal, is all set AAup for their 2017 final loss to Kerala at the Salt Lake Stadium, when they were defeated in the tiebreakers.
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