Courtesy: India Education Diary


Leading corporate giants celebrate “The Cup of Life” with MDI Gurgaon

Monday, November 29, 2010

Gurgaon: The first ever Corporate Futsal Tournament drew to a thrilling finish today on the grounds of Management Development Institute (MDI). American Express beat RBS and emerged champions of the tournament amidst much applause and cheering from the audience.

The finals were kicked off by Shri ­Sunil Bhardwaj, Secretary, Haryana Football Association. 16 corporates including RBS, Barclays, Google, IBM, Wipro, Genpact, Maruti Suzuki, Cognizant etc. fought it out for the 'Cup of Life' spanning 2 days of thrilling football action. MDI is the first B-school in India to organize and host this one of a kind event on its campus.

Futsal's format is five-a-side football and is a shorter version of the game, played for only 30 minutes, in place of the standard 90 minutes. RBS, Genpact and American Express reached the semi finals of 'The Cup of Life' trophy while Google, Amdocs and MDI were pitted against each other for the Plate Trophy. In the finals American Express had a hands-down victory over RBS by 3-0. The MDI team took home the Plate Trophy by defeating Google 3-1.

Speaking on the occasion Prof. B A Metri, Dean- Graduate Programmes, MDI, said, "The Corporate Futsal Tournament was a unique event conceptualized and organized by MDI students on such a large scale. During the tournament we saw the corporate leaders taking decisions on the playground instead of the boardroom. The teams played with fresh and ignited minds and got a weekend full of futsal action, entertainment, and much more."

MDI student Deepak Bodla, Head- Organizing Committee, 'The Cup of Life', said, "The tournament was organized keeping in mind the football fever gripping the country and with the introduction of smaller formats in sports, Futsal was the inevitable choice. We are extremely happy with the enthusiastic response from the participant companies."

The tournament has received fervent response from the corporate houses who are asking for more of the sporting action. Member from one of the finalist teams commended MDI on taking a keen interest in promoting Futsal which is a new concept for India after 20-20 cricket. Expressing his satisfaction with the tournament he added that the logistics and operations were taken care off by MDI students efficiently and through this platform the players got a good opportunity to connect with their counterparts from other corporates. The sponsors for the event are Ganpati Autos (HMSI) and Anand Rathi Financial Services.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com