Ronaldinho's R10 begins 3-day free coaching workshop

Kolkata: Football icon Ronaldinho's R10 football academy at Merlin Rise kickstarted the three-day free coaching workshop for at least 100 participants on Friday.

The total number of participants belongs from four to 17 years. According to an official from the academy, all the participants are boys and the facility is trying to incorporate girls.

The coaching workshop is being conducted under the mentorship of former footballer Krishnendu Roy. Mehtab Hossain presented football kits to less privileged children of the Mukti Rehabilitation Centre on Friday.

"Football is a popular game played in over 200 nations. There are many football academies in Europe and we need good football academies here. We hope kids will get trained here well and talented players from Bengal will get a chance to play in different tournaments," Hossain said. This is the first academy of Ronaldinho in eastern India and the second in India after Bengaluru. They have also announced scholarships for the selected participants on the last day of the workshop. The official added that selected participants will not need to make any payment for training at the academy for one year.