Malayalis form football club in Italy; will play league games from Oct

Mala: A group of Malayalis in Italy, studying, working in various professions, and hailing from different parts of Kerala, came together to form a football club in Italy. With a background in sevens football, the Malayalis decided to register a club, Adlers Lombard FC, after launching Kerala European Football Federation in Milan. The team will start playing in the Italian league from next month onwards. 

PT  Mohammad Abeer, hailing from Malappuram, is the acting president of the federation and the team captain. 16 of the 20 members of the team are Malayalis. Meanwhile, the management crew of the team is entirely comprised of Malayalis. The idea to launch a club was first put forward by Mohammad Abeer, who has been working in an oil production company in Milan since 2010.  

The season will begin in October, and the club is in the League 7 Group D category. Adlers Lombard FC became the most admired club in the Italian league after becoming champions in the All European Championship held in Berlin last month. 

Apart from Abeer, Thiruvananthapuram native, Sharon Marcos, Malapuram native, PT Muhammed Asif, Hafeez Hussain, Syed Mehas, CP Muhammed Naseef, KK Abhilash, Thrissur natives, Mubeen Ponnissery, Jithin Johnson, Eljo Vincent, VS Kalpaj, Ernakulam natives Rajeesh Rafeeq Arakkal, Ashiq Vithayathil, Smento Joseph Kottayam natives, Adhidev Santosh, and Pathanamthitta native Adithyan are other Malayali presence in the team.