Sunil Chhetri collects Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
The Indian men's national football team captain, Sunil Chhetri received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award today, on November 13, 2021 by honourable President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Photo credit: Indian Football Team TwitterThe Indian men's national football team captain, Sunil Chhetri received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award today, on November 13, 2021 by honourable President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had previously announced the winners of National Sports Awards 2021 across digital platforms that awarded Chhetri for his contributions to Indian football and “spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years” at the international level.
President Ram Nath Kovind confers Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021 on #SunilChhetri in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Football.#NationalSportsAwards | @chetrisunil11 pic.twitter.com/0K5kwutx0h
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) November 13, 2021
“One of the primary reasons why I got the Khel Ratna Award is because I have been playing for 19 years. I want to thank each one of the masseurs, physios and doctors. You superstars have been the main reason why I could be on the pitch. There have been so many times when I thought I couldn’t, but you guys made it possible for me,” Chhetri told AIFF.
Chhetri is currently the joint second-highest active goalscorer in International football. In addition, he is the joint fifth-highest International goalscorer of all time.
Alongside Chhetri, Neeraj Chopra, Ravi Kumar, Lovlina Borgohain, Sreejesh PR, Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal, Manpreet Singh and Mithali Raj were conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
