Mamata kicks off ISL, Kolkata wins thrilling inaugural game

‘It is a proud moment for all of us. I congratulate ISL organizers for selecting Kolkata as the venue for the inaugural match of this exciting format in football’, said an enthusiastic Banerjee at the inaugural ceremony that finally saw Sourav Ganguly’s Atletico De Kolkata beat Ranbir Kapoor’s, Mumbai City FC 3:0. Seated between superstar Amitabh Bachchan and business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Banerjee said about ISL, ‘It will strengthen football at the grass root level and give our players international exposure. My best wishes to all the 8 participating teams - Atletico De Kolkata, Mumbai City FC, Chennaiyin FC, Delhi Dynamos FC, FC Goa, FC Pune City, Kerala Blasters, and Northeast United FC’.

A hospitable Chief Minister did not forget to welcome a star studded audience cheering for the series to begin. ‘Amitabh Bachchan ji, Mukesh Ambani Ji, Nita Ji, Praful Patel ji, our very own Sachin, Sourav and a galaxy of many stars and dignitaries were present on the occasion. My best wishes to all of them’, said Banerjee on her Facebook page. 

Masterblaster Sachin Tendulkar,’ Dada ‘Sourav Ganguly, Bollywood film stars John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra were cheered by the 70, 000 plus audience as the inaugural match took off. ‘Best of luck ISL. Best of luck Kolkata’, as Banerjee said. And Kolkata did come out on top on Sunday evening!