Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Friday announced a cash award of over Rs one crore to the state football team which recently won the Santosh Trophy.
A cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, took the decision to give a total of Rs 1.14 crore as cash prize to the team - Rs five lakh each to 20 players and head coach and Rs three lakh each to the assistant coach, manager and goalkeeper trainer.
Vijayan later said in a Facebook post that the Kerala team's triumph on their own soil after 29 years has infused a fresh energy to the entire sports sector of the state.
"It will be an inspiration for the young generation to enter the sports sector," he said adding that the cash award was the honour of the land to the members of the winning team for their effort.
Kerala led by Jijo Joseph and coached by Bino George edged out West Bengal 5-4 on penalties at Manjeri last week to win the national football championship for the seventh time. The teams were tied 1-1 after extra time.
