Hyderabad Football League Season 4 kicks off

Hyderabad: Former Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia once said, "If we really want to become a good football nation, we need to work at grass-roots level."

With this very ideology, was formed the Hyderabad Football League (HFL) for professional-amateur players of Hyderabad, which is now hosting its 4th season at Iron Threads Arena, Yousufguda and Rampage Football at Filmnagar.

On for 6 weeks, the league includes 110 players divided into 9 teams. The league had a player auction where all the players received contracts from the franchises.

It is the first HFL where players were picked through an auction. "The winning teams will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, which will get divided amongst all its team members.

"After 3 successful seasons, we wanted to make the league even more player-centric to keep the motivation levels of the players high.

Therefore, we decided to give cash prizes individually to the winning teams players," said Murad Jasani, Managing Director of HFL.

Every day, there are at least 100 people watching every match, which works as an added incentive for the players to perform their best.

"This 4th season has the best players from Hyderabad participating, which means it's competition with the best competence.

I prepared really hard, physically and mentally, invested 3 Hours every day as part of the practice regime for this season and so far, we are doing alright.

Fingers crossed, we may win the trophy," said a jubilant Shaik Saqib of Rampagers FC.

A total of 75 matches will be played on weekends under lights. The Team owners include Fairmount Builders and Academia Sports Village.

Responsible for reviving the footballing culture in Hyderabad, HFL the biggest mini-football league in the city, was started in 2016.

It has hosted 3 successful seasons so far with cash rewards for the winning teams amounting upto 9 lakh. One of the seasons saw Telugu movie star and an avid sports buff Akhil Akkineni as the brand ambassador for HFL.

To top it all, HFL had ace Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia as its league mentor.

There have been 3 seasons so far, with 400 players taking part during the same. The aim of HFL is to give an opportunity to all the talented players in the city to play and showcase their skills in a league that is professionally run and gives them the opportunity to play with and against the best players from Hyderabad.

HFL uses the existing infrastructure i.e., all the good 5-a-side football grounds across the city. Thus, creating a good football ecosystem.