3rd FPAI Awards held last night, the winners are...

The 3rd edition of the Indian Football Awards organised by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) was held at the ITC Sonar in Kolkata last night. The big winner of the awards was Mehtab Hossain, who was named 'Indian Player of the Year' and he also won the 'Fans Player of the Year' award.

The gala evening was hosted by Mayanti Langer with the Governor of West Bengal M.K. Narayanan being the chief guest of the event with Bollywood/Tollywood stars like Raima Sen, Rituparna Sengupta and Swastika Mukherjee attending besides Indian Tennis legend Leander Paes. Attending from the football field where AIFF Vice-President Subrata Datta, Churchill Brothers supremo Churchill Alemao, Lajong General Secretary Larsing Ming, Mohammedan Sporting Club president Sultan Ahmed and others.

The evening was opened by striker Sunil Chhetri in the absence of Baichung Bhutia, who is currently in Sikkim to help with the rehabilitation work in his home state after the shocking earthquake. And in honour of those killed a minute of silence was observed which was followed by a speech from M.K. Narayanan.

The first announcement of the night was made about the FPAI Team of the Year which included Subrata Pal; Thokchom Naoba Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Uga Okpara, Syed Rahim Nabi; Steven Benedic Dias, Ryuji Sueoka, Mehtab Hossain, Lenny Rodrigues; Roberto Mendes Silva, Odafe Onyeka Okolie. These eleven where chosen by their peers.

The first award of the night was for the Best Foreign Player of the Year which Brazilian Roberto Mendes Silva received from actress Rituparna Sengupta and IMG-Reliance's Ashu Jindal. The Best Coach of the Year award was handed over by Sultan Ahmed to Salgaocar's Karim Bencharifa who surprised everyone by winning the I-League title last season. Then Sunil Chhetri was felicitated by the FPAI for receiving the prestigious Arjuna Award by Larsing Ming and former international Sumit Mukherjee.

Then India's representative at the 2011 Homeless World Cup from Slum Soccer spoke about their experiences in Paris and a video was shown to the audience to highlight what football means to them in their lives.

The next award was the Fans Indian Player at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the award went to India goalkeeper Subrata Pal. The following award was handed over by Apurba Saha from the Pailan Group for the Best Young Player and it went to Jeje Lalpekhlua, but he wasn't there to receive his award. The same is sadly the case for Baichung Bhutia, whose special award is accepted on his behalf by Jose Ramirez Barreto. Now it was the turn of the 'Fans Player of the Year' award and went to Mehtab Hossain, while the final award of the night, the Best Indian Player of the Year, was handed over by Subrata Dutta and Leander Paes to Mehtab Hossain.

There was entertainment during the evening from Sanjeev & Sandip Vyas, a fashion show involving footballers and an auction of a Baichung Bhutia India jersey for the earthquake victims and that went for Rs 50,000 to Churchill Alemao.


This Years Winners

FPAI Team of the Year
Subrata Pal (Pune FC), Thokchom Naoba Singh (Churchill Brothers SC/East Bengal Club), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo SC), Uga Okpara (East Bengal Club), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal Club/Mohun Bagan AC), Steven Benedic Dias (Churchill Brothers SC), Ryuji Sueoka (Salgaocar SC), Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club), Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers SC), Roberto Mendes Silva (Dempo SC/Churchill Brothers SC), Odafe Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers SC/Mohun Bagan AC)

Fans Indian Player at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup
Subrata Pal (Pune FC)

Best Young Player
Jeje Lalpekhula (Indian Arrows/Pune FC)

Best Foreign Player
Roberto Mendes Silva (Dempo SC/Churchill Brothers SC)

Best Indian Player
Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club)

Best Coach
Karim Bencherifa (Salgaocar SC)

Fans Player of the Year
Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club)