IIM Graduate’s Football Passion Drives Him To Set Up Assam’s First FIFA-Approved Turf
Sajad Siddique’s dream project, ‘Game On Arena’, could be a perfect launch-pad for new players in Assam that has long been deprived of world-class facilities
Abdul Wadood
Guwahati: Behind Assam’s first-ever FIFA approved football turf lies the passion of a 24-year-old MBA graduate and his everlasting love for the game.
Sajad Siddique, a graduate from Indian Institute of Management (Rohtak), founded the artificial turf called ‘Game On Arena’ on a leased plot at Beharbari in Guwahati to bring state-of-the-art infrastructure to the state while providing a safe and world-class facility for the upcoming generation and enthusiasts of football.
“Game On Arena has the potential to create new players as the turf is FIFA-approved. It will allow the kids to train and prepare for the future,” said Siddique.
Explaining the advantages of the project, he said the use of rubber and silica enhances the safety aspects of the turf which meets all the international standards. He feels that the turf would offer the scope of playing the game for the entire year which assumes significance in a region like Assam which experiences heavy rainfall.
“I think playing on a FIFA-approved turf will give the players the feel of playing in the big leagues. Places like Uruguay and Brazil have a lot of confined spaces which is why their close control over the ball gets better which is very essential. I have also seen such grounds being set up in Delhi and Mumbai but to use them for the right purpose is equally important,” explained Siddique who is also a post-graduate diploma in football management from Western India Football Institution (WIFA).
Siddique hopes that ‘Game On Arena’ would become a platform for people to come together to celebrate the beauty of sports which prompts him to term the projects also as a ‘recreational space’ for anyone. “I firmly believe that the right set up is something that is very essential to create champions. My objective is to establish a space where people can immerse themselves in all kinds of sports and not just football,” claimed Siddique.