Sahara will felicitate Indian sportspersons across sports disciplines

Announces first of its kind multi discipline ‘Sahara Indian Sports Award’; Sports Journalist Federation of India (SJFI) will nominate while sporting legends led by Sunil Gavaskar will select awardees.

Sahara India Pariwar, a major business conglomerate and the prime promoter & patron of sports in India announces the launch of its newest sports initiative ‘SAHARA INDIAN SPORTS AWARDS’. The comprehensive Awards under different categories will felicitate the achievement and efforts of Indian sportspersons in their respective fields and will also provide recognition to the upcoming young talents. The Awards will also recognize the contribution of Coaches, sports officials and administrators. The awards will be presented in a gala awards ceremony on November 9th, 2009.

The sponsor of Indian Cricket and Hockey, Sahara India Pariwar, had earlier this year, adopted Indian Boxing, Wrestling and Archery and very recently Indian Shooting in addition to covering support of a total of 56 sportsmen in these four games until after London Olympics 2012. The group in order to uplift sports at domestic and grass root level supports the legendary Calcutta Football League, Sheesh Mahal Cricket Tournament and many other sports at the national, state and district levels. Recently the group has extended its sponsorship to the Uttar Pradesh senior cricket team which represents the state in Ranji and all other domestic tournaments.

Sahara India Pariwar has developed the awards, with an intention to bring together all sports, including those which are very popular and also those which are not so popular, together on a common platform to recognize and honour the achievements of Indian sportspersons who have taken the pride of the nation to the highest level and kept the tricolor flying high. These awards will also provide a forum for encouragement to young sporting talents and motivate them to bring laurels to the nation and sports.  The voting process of the awards is in two tiers, where at the first level, Sports Journalist Federation of India (SJFI) will initially nominate sportspersons from different sections of sports in different categories. From the shortlist drawn from the SJFI nomination, winners of the Sahara Indian Sports Awards under different categories will be selected by a 13 person sports jury constituted by living legends from different sports discipline like Cricket, Billiards, Tennis, Golf, Squash, Hockey, Atheltics, Boxing, Badminton, Football, Chess, Table Tennis etc. The jury will be led by cricketing legend Mr. Sunil Gavaskar as the Chairman of the jury. The entire selection process will be audited and monitored by KPMG.

On eve of the launch of Sahara Indian Sports Awards, Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker & Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar said, “In India, sports still takes a back seat and does not get the needed recognition and applause. We felt that we need to encourage the sportspersons and give an impetus to their talent by appreciating and felicitating it. As a part of our commitment towards promotion and development of sports in India, the Sahara Indian Sports Awards is a step to honour the spirit of sportsmanship”. 

Mr. Sunil Gavaskar, The cricket legend and Chairman of the awards jury, on launch of the Sahara Indian Sports award said, “Sahara Indian Sports Award is a forum that will get multidisciplinary sportspersons under one roof. It’s a forum to salute the spirit of sportsmanship and cheer fellow sportsmen. It is a great initiative by Sahara India to come up with ‘Sahara Indian Sports Award’ to honour the finest sportsmen & sportswomen of our country.”

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Shailendra Singh, Jt Managing Director, Percept Ltd said, “It is our honour to be associated with Sahara India Pariwar for the ‘Sahara Indian Sports Awards.’ We feel privileged to be part of the sports awards and I congratulate Sahara India Pariwar for this new endeavour. It is indeed commendable on Mr Subrata Roy Sahara’s part to take the mantle in continuously promoting and encouraging Indian sports and sports talents. This initiative only reiterates their dedication and contribution to Indian sports”.

Mr. Abhijit Sarkar, Head - Corporate Communications, Sahara India Pariwar, said, “Sahara Indian Pariwar since its inception has been associated with the promotion and development of sports at all levels. It was seen that recognition in sports was invariably weighed proportionate to the popularity of the game as a result of which many sports and sportsmen were rendered in oblivion. There was a need to develop a single, comprehensive platform which can bring all sports and sportsmen together and honour stars and promising talent. These awards are only a manifestation of our deep rooted commitment towards promoting sports and encouraging the youngsters towards sports. We want to make this award the best and the most prestigious award in this part of the sub-continent”.

About Sahara India Pariwar
Sahara India Pariwar is a major business conglomerate in India with operations in multiple sectors, including real estate, infrastructure and housing, financial services, housing finance, mutual funds, life insurance, print & television media, film production & distribution, information technology, medical services, hospitality & tourism and consumer products. 

About  Percept Ltd.
Percept Ltd is India’s leading sports marketing, entertainment & communication group with more than 15 years of experience in sports management.  Its profile includes managing the biggest sponsorship deals in India like the Indian Cricket Team Sponsorship, managing BCCI rights, overseas cricket series, sports star management, management of India’s only F1 team – Force India etc. Percept has in past organized numerous innovative events to promote sports, Social causes and sports stars like the Good Luck India, Formula 1 Powerboat, Cycling Events, Million Dollar Arm a property to promote baseball.