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Coca-Cola in India activated the FIFA World Cup™ 2010 across the football crazy city of Kolkata by undertaking a series of initiatives to celebrate the spirit of the game. The company recently announced its partnership with Kolkata Police to organize the ‘Kolkata Police - Coca-Cola Friendship Cup', an Inter-Para (Neighbourhood) Football tournament, to further promote football in Kolkata.
To launch the 2010 Coca-Cola Friendship Cup, a special event was organized which was attended by eminent Indian footballer, Padmashree Awardee , Sri Pradeep Kumar Banerjee, Dr. Ashim Dasgupta, MIC, Finance & Excise, Government of West Bengal, Sri Gautam Mohan Chakraborty, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, Debashish Roy, Additional Commissioner of Police (A.P), and Vikas Chawla, Vice-President, Franchise Operations, Coca-Cola India along with various other dignitaries. The tournament kick started with an opening match played between Taratala Boys' Club and Kolkata Police Football Team.
Speaking at the occasion, Vikas Chawla, Vice-President Franchise Operations, Coca-Cola India said, "Coca-Cola's association with Kolkata Police for the Friendship Cup is an extension of our company's worldwide focus to promote sports and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle. We believe that great football talent exists in Kolkata. The challenge is to nurture this talent through innovative initiatives such as the Coca-Cola Friendship Cup.
Dr.Asim Kumar Dasgupta, MIC, Finance & Excise, Govt. of West Bengal inaugurates the Kolkata Police Coca-Cola Friendship Cup along with Mr.Vikas Chawla, Vice President, Franchise Operations, Coca-Cola India, Sri. G.M Chakrabarti, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Samaresh Choudhury and Gautam Sarkar, Eminent Indian Footballers at the Bodyguard Lines Ground, Alipore
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(From left to right) - Debashish Roy, Additional Commissioner of Police (A.P), Eminent Indian footballer and Padmashree Awardee , Sri Pradeep Kumar Banerjee and Vikas Chawla, Vice-President, Franchise Operations, Coca-Cola India unveil the Kolkata Police Coca-Cola Friendship Cup at the Alipoe Police Headquarters in Kolkata
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Adding further, Vikas said, "Globally, The Coca-Cola Company has been the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup TM that began in 1978. Given our global experience with football, we believe that Indian football has all the potential to make a mark internationally. Initiatives such as the Coca-Cola Friendship Cup are hence designed to not only promote football as a sport but also bring people together and share their passion for the game".
According to, Sri Gautam Mohan Chakraborty, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, "Friendship Cup in its 14 years has been one of the most successful initiatives in building community relationships. The objective of this inter-para football tournament is to leverage football as a tool to engage with the citizens of Kolkata and also promote football amongst the masses in the state. We are happy to partner with Coca-Cola for this tournament and I am sure this association will encourage our footballers in pursuing a highly contested and well organized tournament across the state".
Football Enthusiasts participate in the Coca-Cola Footballer Hullor initiative
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Football Enthusiasts participate in the Coca-Cola Footballer Hullor initiative
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Kolkata Police- Coca-Cola Friendship Cup is a unique initiative rolled out by the Kolkata Police to build community relationships especially amongst the youth in the city of Kolkata through the beautiful game. This is also the largest Para (Neighbourhood) sporting event in the city. The month long tournament began from 11th June, 2010 and will end on 20th July, 2010. The tournament matches will be played between 462 para teams of Kolkata, involving participation of more than 6000 footballers. All matches involving 600 paras will be played in multiple format such as 7A Side / 9A Side /11A Side format. Each team will consist of 7 /9 /11 players and would also have roll on/roll off substitutes. Para team winning the Kolkata Police - Coca-Cola Friendship Cup will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 25,000, while the runners-up team would get Rs. 15,000.
To supplement this initiative, Coca-Cola India has also organized the Coca-Cola Footballer Hullor, a one of its kind initiative in partnership with BIG Live, to celebrate the passion for football in the City of Joy. As a part of the initiative Paras have been invited to showcase their passion for the sport by decorating their clubs/paras based on their favourite team participating in the FIFA World Cup™ 2010.
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