ISL 2017: Kerala Blasters raise awareness for blind football in heartwarming gesture
What's the story?
ISL side Kerala Blasters decided to host the Indian Blind Football Federation players in their training ground to help raise awareness about blind football.
Only a couple of months ago, the first blind football academy was set up in Kochi.
In case you didn't know
The Indian visually impaired football team currently sits in 23rd position in the global rankings. Blind football is also a Paralympic sport and a blind football World Championship is organised by the International Blind Sports Association every year.
The heart of the matter
The Kerala Blasters will face Mumbai City FC on Sunday at 8 pm but despite their tight training schedule, they still found time to interact with the visually impaired footballers. After two back-to-back draws, the Kerala Blasters would be hoping to get the monkey off their back when they face the Mumbai side.
Kerala Blasters are not the only team to not register a win in the fourth season of ISL. There are two other teams who have yet to open their account. On the upside, they will face a Mumbai side who suffered a Maharashtra derby defeat. To make things even better, one of their star players, Wes Brown, is expected to return to action after nursing an injury.
What's next?
Coach Rene Meulensteen isn't getting too far ahead of himself as he said that they are taking it one step at a time with Brown. Meanwhile, the centre-back pairing Sandesh Jhingan and Nemanja Lakic-Pesic is already rock solid. It will be a battle between last season's finalists against a team that ended on top of the table under the same manager.
Sportskeeda's Take
It is a truly heartwarming gesture by the Blasters, especially given the fact that Sunday is also World Disability Day, The team are certainly doing their bit to aid the differently-abled athletes and hopefully, their efforts will help raise awareness and interest towards blind football and disability as a whole.