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This new league in Mumbai is bringing alive nascent passion for football
Updated On: 25 May, 2023 09:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
A new league seeks to infuse life and bring alive the nascent passion for rink football in the city
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Players at a women’s open game
A whistle goes off, and suddenly there is electricity all around. Players crowd around the referee, as he pulls out a yellow card. The foul is hotly contested, with the audience joining in — cheering and criticising the call. “That’s football, isn’t it?” says Denver Fonseca, founder of the city’s new Mumbai Rink Football League while overseeing the technical bench. We are watching a game of the ongoing Mumbai Rink Football League at Wings Sports Centre in Bandra. Having begun on May 7, the league will hold regular five-a-side matches amongst city teams every night till the finals on May 28.
A frequent player on Mumbai grounds in his youth, the 39-year-old is more than familiar with the once hidden tradition of turf football in the city. “It was mostly played around school grounds and church compounds. These were on tar mats — rough and not easy,” Fonseca admits. But the last decade has witnessed an explosion of close to 200 turf facilities across the city. He found a willing partner in co-founder, and another veteran of Mumbai’s turf, Myrin D’mello to start a league that unites the disparate clubs across the city.
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