YFC Rurka Kalan has successfully organized the Opening Ceremony of its charitable initiative EDU Football League in Rurka Kalan, Jalandhar on Sunday.

The initiative is a brainchild of YFC President Gurmangal Dass Sony who desires to emulate the league in overall Punjab. The EFL Opening Ceremony was a musical cum sports cum political affair which saw an approximate 5000 spectators at Youth and Sports complex, Rurka Kalan.

The schedule kicked off with an oath taking ceremony. Rajvir Singh, a 12 year old boy from Attari border and the star of last year’s EFL edition took an oath and made a plea of ‘Nashe to door raho, Padho, Likho aura age badho’ to everyone present in the stadium. Pigeons were released to signify peace.

Tracksuits to all the teams were given free of cost who participated from various parts of Punjab such as Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar. The farthest team had come from Attari situated at Indo-Pak border near Wagah Border, Amritsar. All the teams showcased their team names through a march during the ceremony in front of avid sports fans across the stadium. Food and beverages were provided to everybody.

Oympian and Padamshree awardee Sardar Pargat Singh Ji hoisted the EFL flag followed while the national anthem was played. Soon afterwards, a ‘7-A-Side’ football exhibition match was organized between the Rurka Kalan Football Academy and the Capital Local Area Bank Football Academy. Eventually, Rurka Kalan Football Academy won by a solitary goal. A circle style Kabaddi match was organized between Gurbachan Singh Club Puadada and Guruhar Rai Sports Club Dugga, where Guruhar Rai Sports Club was beaten 30-25.

Musical performances by leading Punjabi singers Rai Jhujar, Lehmber Hussainpuri, Gurwinder Singh from Voice of Punjab, Balraj Bilga and Garry Sandhu hosted the overall programme. The initiative was especially graced by Radio Jockey Himanshu Bharadwaj who hosts famous show ‘Jiyo Dil Se’ on 94.3 FM.

Sardar Pargat Singh (Chief Secretary of Sports, Punjab), Pawan Kumar Tinu (MP from Canada), Jasbir Sandhu (IG of Punjab Police), Ishwar Chandra (Member of Rajya Sabha), Avinash Rai Khanna (Managing Director, Capital Local Area Bank), Sarabjit Singh Samra and NRI from Canada Kulwant Singh Bittu were the main chief guests of the event that supported and contributed monetarily and non-monetarily to the academy for the cause of promoting football among underprivileged children.