After being conferred with the Padma Shri award, former captain of the Indian football team Inivalappil Mani Vijayan, popularly known as I M Vijayan, said that he would like to dedicate this award to the Indian football fans.
Former captain Vijayan was instrumental in Indian football's success during the 1990s. He guided the Indian national team to the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in 1993 and 1997.
In both title-winning editions of the tournament, Vijayan was the top goal-scorer.
The list of Padma awards was officially declared on Saturday.
'I dedicate my award to every football fan in the country. What I am today is because of them. I am not sure how good I was as a footballer. But the love I received from the fans was the biggest achievement of my career. They are the people who are responsible for taking the beautiful game to this height,' Vijayan, who donned the senior India colours 88 times, scoring 39 goals, told the-aiff.com.
'Yes, I am happy, extremely happy. You ought to feel satisfied when your services are recognised. I don't know how much this award will help Indian football.
'At the same time, this may encourage some youngsters in some parts of the country to pursue football. If so, it would give me a deep sense of fulfilment,' said the former striker once considered the heartthrob of Indian football.
Having started his National Team journey in January 1991 against Romania in the Nehru Cup in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Vijayan remained the backbone of the Blue Tigers for 12 long years. By the time he hung up his boots after the Afro-Asian Games final in Hyderabad in October 2003, he became a legendary figure on the pitch, perhaps the most sought-after man in Indian football. He, along with Bhaichung Bhutia, formed a deadly attacking duo that once instilled fears in the minds of many a defence.
The scorer of India's fastest hat-trick in international football (against Pakistan, 1999 South Asian Games), Vijayan was three times adjudged the AIFF Player of the Year (1992, 1997, and 2000) and was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna award in 2003.
Presently, Vijayan is an AIFF Executive Committee member and the Chairperson of the AIFF Technical Committee.
Vijayan is the ninth Indian footballer to be conferred with the Padma Shri after Gostho Paul, Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri, Bembem Devi, and Brahmanand Sankhwalkar.
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