JEDDAH – Sporting United Jeddah (SUJ) soccer academy gave away its first Community Excellence Awards in a recent event held to mark its seventh anniversary celebrations. Noted cultural figure and President of Sameeksha Literary Forum Gopi Nedungadi and well-known singer Mirza Sharif bagged the award in the fields of culture and literature, and art and music.

The awards for the contributions in the field of educational uplift went to the Jeddah chapter of Center for Information & Guidance (CIGI), while the award in the field of media and journalism was bagged by Hassan Cheruppa of Saudi Gazette. K.M. Musthafa, president of CIGI, received the award for the edu-career organization CIGI while Salah Karadan received the award on behalf of Hassan Cheruppa.

Ismail Kolakkadan, chairman of SUJ, presented the awards during the anniversary celebrations held at Impala Garden in Sharafiyah. Chief Patron T.P Shuhaib, who presided over the function, said that SUJ, a pioneering football academy of Indian expatriates based in Jeddah, instituted the award as part of its commitment to recognize the outstanding contributions of persons in the field of community service as well as for organizations that work for the uplift of the community.

Speaking on the occasion, the recipients of the award said that it increased their responsibility and commitment with exerting more efforts in serving the community and working for the overall betterment of the humanity.

SUJ General Secretary V.V. Ashraf welcomed the gathering while Treasurer Jaleel Kalathingal proposed the vote of thanks. In his speech, Ashraf briefed the major activities of SUJ over the past seven years toward provision of the best possible training for hundreds of students by utilizing the services of seven prominent coaches including two Spanish ones.

“Our academy has received invitation to participate in the international football tournament, scheduled to be held in Dubai this year, and we consider the opportunity to partake along with premier academies from Germany, Brazil and Argentina as a token of appreciation for our excellent track record,” he said.

Salah Karadan, Aboobackar K.T, and Jafar Kallingapadam, managing committee member of International Indian School Jeddah, delivered felicitation speeches. Mirza Sharif, Amjad Ali, Rafi Calicut, Mumtaz Abdurahman, Siddarth Bhaskar, and Jamshid enthralled the audience with their melodious songs.

A wide variety of cultural programs such as skit, Mohiniyattam, Chinese magic, Oppana, Punjabi dance, and a motivation session by Muhammad Yasin captivated the audience. Well-known singer and footballer Rafi Kozhikode, who is leaving for India for good, was given a sendoff on the occasion.

Sporting United Vice Chairman Nazar Feroke and Secretaries - Najeeb Tirurangadi and Shabeer Ali - were among the organizers of the event. — SG