VIDEO: Vijay Goel makes MPs play Football outside the Parliament to promote the FIFA U-17 World Cup

There is suddenly this ‘football high’ in India, with the Indian football team coming good in previous two games and with the nation gearing up to host its first FIFA competition. The U-17 World Cup is scheduled to be held in October in India and Vijay Goel, the Sports minister is trying innovative ways to promote the game amongst the bureaucracy.

The event was kicked off by Sumitra Mahajan, in the presence of former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia and All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief Praful Patel.

Vijay Goel then gifted all MPs  a football and encouraged them to try their hand at it as well, to which the MPs obliged and kicked a few balls outside the Parliament itself(We don’t know if that was the plan).

None of them were adept with the ball at feet though, even resorting to bouncing it like a basketball and playing a game of ‘catch’ with it. Clearly, they were not ready for it. Full marks to Vijay Goel for the idea but zero for the execution.

Journalists and photographers were treated to a brilliant morning as the MPs struggled to cope with performance pressure and in turn gave us a lot of hilarious moments.

Check out the best videos :

Vijay Goel made his intentions about taking Indian football to the next level very clear

At least Prasun Banerjee did not disappoint:

The Women MPs didn’t really know what to do:

Vijay Goel wanted all MPs to popularise the sport in their respective constituencies.He also distributed the vision document to all MPs and encouraged them to promote sports to the optimum level. He also said that the country will do its utmost to promote a sporting culture and work towards Mission XI Million.

It’s very heartening to see that Vijay Goel is trying innovative methods to promote sport, but it would be good if he gave the MPs a little heads up before he asks them to step out onto the field.