MOSCOW: Two Indian kids have got to live a dream by being the Official Match Ball Carriers (OMBCs) at the ongoing FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 here.
Selected after a nationwide talent hunt by automobile giant Kia Motors, one of FIFAs official World Cup partners, 11-year-old Nathania John and 10-year-old Rishi Tej became India’s first set of official match ball carriers.
While Nathania led the likes of Neymar and Phillipe Coutinho out with the match ball in her hands during the Brazil-Costa Rica clash in St Petersburg, Rishitej had his moment during the Belgium-Panama group stage match which featured stars such as Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku among others.
The initiative was launched on April 10 in India, inviting footballers in the age-group of 10 to 14, to showcase their skills and win a chance to go to Russia.
It had Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri personally monitoring the selection process and the final choices were made from a shortlist of 50 children.
The kids were required to demonstrate dribbling, juggling and shooting skills in the contest and also had to answer a set of questions.
A total of 64 children from across the world are selected to be official match ball carriers.
“This is just the beginning of Kia’s association with big-ticket sporting events. Our next initiative would probably be the Australian Open where we will try to send kids as official ball collectors on the court,” PTI quoted Manohar Bhat, Kia India’s head of sales and marketing, as having said.
The South Korean auto giant renewed its long-standing association with the Australian Open – the tennis season’s first Grand Slam – earlier this year for a period of five years.
