Apollo Tyres and Manchester United to nurture young football talent in India

Apollo Tyres, in association with Manchester United Football Club and Youth Football International (YFI), today launched the Apollo Go The Distance Scholarship programme, under the banner of Manchester United Soccer School (MUSS), to nurture young football talent in India. Mikael Silvestre, former Manchester United defender, launched the Apollo Go The Distance Scholarship programme, in the presence of Marco Paracciani, Chief Marketing Officer and Satish Sharma, President, APMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa), Apollo Tyres and Phil Townsend, Manchester United’s Director of Communications & Deputy Chairman of the Man Utd Foundation.


The event also saw the unveiling of the special edition dual branded -- Apollo & Manchester United -- tyres for the Indian market. India is the third country globally, after United Kingdom and Thailand, to see the launch of the special edition dual branded tyre. Aimed at the huge following of Manchester United in the country, the tyre will be available for sale immediately at select Apollo outlets to ensure proper fitment and service, and has been designed and developed in Apollo’s Global R&D Centre in Enschede, The Netherlands.


Apollo Go The Distance Scholarship programme, which started today at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, will continue till Friday this week. Two especially flown-in Manchester United Soccer School coaches, along with Mikael Silvestre, will show a range of movements and techniques linked to Manchester United coaching methods and then select 6 kids out of the 192 participants -- one each from U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19 age groups -- basis on these skills. The selected kids would be offered a one year scholarship by Apollo Tyres for their training with Youth Football International in Delhi. From the chosen 6 kids, one kid would also get an opportunity to join a week-long residential training camp with Manchester United Soccer Schools in the UK. The Apollo Go The Distance Scholarship programme will culminate with a United: Live event in New Delhi on May 17, which will also see the presence of Manchester United’s legendary goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel.