With a record nine wins out of 10 matches Dabangg won the 10-week long football league tournament which was conducted by International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ) Alumni Association (IISJAA) recently. The IFL (IISJAA Football League) tournament kicked off on Jan. 18 at the Dunk football grounds here. It was inaugurated by the legendary Indian footballer, Mohammed Habib, along with Dr. Karimuddin, member of Higher Board of IISJ Managing Committee and Ghazanfar Ali Zaki, ex-Santosh Trophy player from India. More than 150 ex-students of IISJ participated in this event. The teams that vied for honors were Dabangg, Spartans, Regals Club, Barca, Arabian Falcons, Junior Man City, Scorpions, Never United and Terminators. After nine action-packed weeks of the league matches, the final matches were played between Regals Club and Barca for the third and fourth positions, and between Dabangg and Spartans for the first and second positions. Hassan Abdulale supervised the first match between Regals Club and Barca which ended in a 2-2 draw. In the shootout, Abrar Khan of Barca saved a penalty shot by Yasir Kazi of Regals Club. However Regals club won the tiebreaker winning the third position. The match of the tournament was between Spartans and Dabangg. With just one loss Spartans took on unbeaten Dabangg for the trophy. Scorpions had held Dabangg to a draw earlier. Within the first 10 minutes, Spartan's star player Khaled Shamlan opened the scoring. However, after 15 minutes Dabangg restored parity through a penalty. In the second half, Dabangg midfielder Omar banged in the second goal for Dabangg through a header. Spartans did not give up and Waleed scored the equalizer to make 2-2 at the end of regulation time. And it was a time to test the two of the best goalkeepers of the tournament, Samiullah and Nadir. Mohammed Samiullah of Dabangg became the hero by saving two shots, thus giving Dabangg the title. He was also declared as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Dr. Karimuddin, Patron of IISJAA and higher board member, was the chief guest, along with Joy, Head of Open School and Noufal, HM of high school IISJ. Special awards: The Golden Boot award for being the top scorer – Faisal Khamees of Regals Club; best goalkeeper – Mohammed Samiullah of Dabangg; best kit – Regals Club; fair play – Spartans Club. This event was organized by the IISJAA Committee comprising Mohammed Hyder (president), Asim Zeeshan (vice president), Syed Aziz (general secretary), Tanweer Siddiqui (treasurer), Mir Asgar Ali (board member), Dr. Khaleel Mohammed (board member), supported by Mansoor Mehdi and Adil Siddiq.
