IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) Charitable Trust organised the 5th edition of its annual fundraising tournament- the IDIA Football League- in Mumbai on October 6th & 7th 2018. As with the previous editions, the IFL 2018 was powered by sponsor & partner, Vahura. This year also saw on board various other sponsors for the event such as Enerzal (who was our hydration partner) and Khelomore (a digital platform that bringing together young athletes and coaches/academies for a better performance on field). The event would not have been possible without the kind support of Dumela who sponsored the official jerseys for the tournament.
IFL 2018 Highlights and Winners
We kickstarted the 5th edition with our annual fundraising dinner titled IFL night. We were privileged to showcase the performances by two lawyers pursuing their passion for arts, Aditi Ramesh, an exemplary vocalist and Pooja Natarajan, a stand-up comedian when her busy lawyer schedule permits.
We are thankful to FLYP@MTV for letting us host the IFL night and making sure that the food and drinks were free flowing. We also thank The Grey Matter and Dhaval Vussonji who pitched in last minute and helped us to make IFL Night a grand success. Our guest of honour at IFL, Mr. Henry Menezes, CEO of Western India Football Association and former goalkeeper of the Indian football team graced the occasion.
Both days of the championship witnessed nail biting matches as 16 teams were head on for the coveted IFL Cup. Day one of IFL 2018 was packed with action with all the league matches which sealed the fate of these teams. The top two teams in each group competed for the IFL Cup and the remaining two battled for the IFL Plate.
Day two witnessed the intense battles for the IFL Cup 2018 and IFL Plate 2018. Trilegal competed against Star TV in the final match for IFL Cup 2018. Trilegal emerged as the winner and lifted the IFL Cup 2018 with a 2-0 score.
J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Wadia Ghandy fought it out for the IFL Plate, which was won by Wadia Ghandy with a 3-2 score.
The following teams participated in this year’s tournament. This edition also witnessed the participation of two new teams – Bombay Bar Association and ICICI Bank.
- AZB & Partners
- Bharucha & Partners
- Bombay Bar Association
- Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
- Desai & Diwanji
- Economic Law Practices
- ICICI Bank
- IDIA Well Wishers
- J Sagar Associates
- Juris Corp
- Khaitan & Co.
- Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
- Star TV
- Trilegal
- Vahura; and
- Wadia Ghandy.
The championship brought together a number of lawyers from behind their desks on to the battlefield for promoting and supporting diversity in legal education
Below is the list of the individual awardees of IFL-2018. This year, IDIA also gave away a INR 3000 voucher for the best cheerleading squad on the ground and this award made sure that cheerleaders did the best they could to win the vouchers.
- Best Senior Player: Vishnu from Bharucha & Partners
- Best Female Player: Nandini Ghosh from Vahura
- Most Diverse Squad: Vahura
- Fair Play Award: Desai & Diwanji
- Best Goalkeeper: Anirudh Kapoor (Trilegal)
- Highest Goal-Scorer: Saurav Modi (JSA). Saurav scored 7 goals throughout the tournament.
- Best Cheerleading Squad: ICICI Bank
We also hosted a friendly match between the kids from The Little League and the IDIA Mumbai chapter members which was thoroughly enjoyed by the players and the audience alike. The Little League is a not-for-profit organisation established to facilitate and encourage the upliftment of underprivileged children through sports.
The event photographs with the whacky, thrilling and exciting moments of IFL 2018 are available here.
