Madanpura is abuzz with a night football tournament that started on Thursday. It will be on till May 8 at Mohammad Hussein Playground in the area. Nearly 16 teams comprising residents of Byculla area, will be participating in the tournament. All of the players work through the day, and have spare time only at night, which explains why the tournament is being held at night.
It is being organised by Rais Shaikh, a local corporator and Samajwadi Party group leader in BMC. Madanpura has been a football playing community, says Shaikh. According to him, this area had several labour camps, who constitute the maximum population of the area. These were people from the textile mills working in central Mumbai.
"Football was the easiest and simple sport available and known to them, In my area, we have more football aficionados than cricketers. Nearly 100 boys have played the sport at national level. However, it was dying slowly, and I didn't want the youth to go haywire. Hence the decision to rebuild interest in the sport, which culminated into the tournament," said Shaikh.
The game has also been an employment churner for the locals, as Shaikh points out that many government institutions have given employment to footballers from Madanpura. There are many residents who have been playing football for generations.
The expected crowd at the event is 30,000 for all the six days.
In the recent past, not only football, but other sports have also seen a growth in the area. This includes boxing and basketball. In January, a tender of Rs 5 crore was floated for one of the school's upgrade. The infrastructure was also upgraded and the area's Bachchu Bhai Khan Playground is being renovated with world-class facilities. Apart from this, the Jhula Maidan, another ground in the area, is also being revamped for children to play cricket and basketball.
