Footballer Mohammed Rafique runs coaching centre for underprivileged kids

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Kolkata, June 7: Mohammed Rafique has been in the mainstream of Indian football for almost last seven years. He plays for East Bengal, Kerala Blasters and the Indian football team regularly.

At a time when the sports world is full of highly professional individuals, the 25-year old footballer is showing that he can be an exception.

The versatile footballer, who is adept at playing in both the midfield as well as a forward, has been running a coaching centre in his residential area for the last five years silently.

The coaching centre has been exclusively launched for those boys and girls who are coming from nearby slum area and fighting against dire financial distress.

Rafique had an impressive show with Indian team on Tuesday, guiding the national team towards a comfortable 2-0 victory in the FIFA friendly against Nepal.

After the match, speaking over the phone from Mumbai, the player said: “The coaching centre is not only for the financially poor boys and girls.

"Those who are mentally retarded is also taken care by the doctors and psychologists as well as the teachers also who offer studies to them."

The coaching centre is totally funded by Rafique. The centre is already touching 100 students and more than 15 teachers excluding a couple of clerical and administrative staffs.

The coaching centre has been constructed at a place named Sodpur in North 24 Parganas, around one hour from Kolkata City.

Rafique, commenting on the issue added: “My father was a mere worker in a jute mill. So I also had to come up through gruelling hardship since my childhood.

"I also could not continue my study due to the poverty. That is why I set a dream long time ago that I would provide infrastructure for those students who do not have financial ability to continue studies when I would be financially able to run it."

OneIndia News