An extravagant affair to celebrate football
The Ambience Group Hindustan Times Great Indian Football Action Season 5 will kick off with a gala opening ceremony featuring Akshay Kumar, Astitva and Zenith Dance Troupe at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex
NEW DELHI: Taking over the city with the football fever at an all-time high after the conclusion of the pre-qualifying matches, the most awaited football celebration—the opening ceremony of Delhi-ncr’s biggest neighbourhood football tournament—ambience Group Hindustan Times Great Indian Football Action will be back with superstar Akshay Kumar on Saturday.
Over 450 teams participated in the prequalifying matches of the tournament, over the course of two weekends. The teams participated in two separate categories; Junior (class V-VIII) and Senior (class IX-XII), where girls’ teams participated in separate categories. While 225 teams grabbed main draw berths, most were unable to qualify for the league matches.
Giving the teams a second chance to get back, the wild card entry process saw a whopping 1.57 lakh votes posted and 50 teams will return to compete for the GIFA Trophy.
Akshay Kumar will be back this season to set the stage on fire with his charm and humour. The biggest fans of the superstar also participated in #HTGIFAKEKHILADI contest. Fans uploaded a video of themselves performing tricks with a football on various social media platforms. Three lucky winners will get a chance to share the stage with Akshay himself on Saturday.
The opening ceremony will also see music and dance performances. The Delhi-based multi-genre Hindi band, Astitva, will rock the stage with their hits including Dil Banjara, Gumshuda among more.
Suraj’s Zenith Dance Troupe will take the stage to perform their act that is sure to leave the audience mesmerised. Armed with the latest hits, DJ Sumit Sethi will keep the audience on their toes throughout the event. The opening ceremony will be hosted by TV actor Rithvik Dhanjani.
“It is so exciting to get the opportunity to attend the opening ceremony of HT GIFA. Being a fan of the sport as well as Akshay Kumar, the opening ceremony is surely going to be a blast for me. It is great to have such a huge platform for football in the city and especially to see the enthusiasm of the kids. I am sure it is going to be a special night full of celebration and amazing performances,” said Shubham Gupta, a resident of Chanakyapuri.
The grand opening ceremony of HT GIFA will be starting from 5pm at the Thyagaraj Stadium, INA.