Participant Profiles

Dheer Sampat

Name: Mr. Dheer Sampat
City: Mumbai
Profession: Advocate
Organization: High Court, Bombay
Work Experience: 5 years

He is an Advocate by profession who is practicing in High Court, Bombay and other Small Cause Courts since 2020. He completed his Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) from University of Mumbai. By the end of 2020 he achieved His Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from University of Mumbai. Also he has completed his Masters of Laws (LLM) in Financial Regulations from NMIMS Kirit P Mehta School of Law in 2021. Currently, he is practicing with a Senior Counsel in High Court, Bombay and representing Union of India (Ministry of Railways) in Arbitration matters and is also assisting in private Criminal matters. Since 2017, he has been part of Rotaract District 3141, Mumbai where he has been working in the field of sports and also he has been very successful in being the Chairperson and organizing of various sports projects or events such as Football Tournaments, Cricket Tournaments and other recognized Olympic Sports Tournaments. He has also impacted a large amount of youth in spreading awareness about unique sports available or played around the world such as Pickleball, Sepak Takraw, F1 Racing, Teqball, etc. He has been adjudged as the “BEST SPORTS DIRECTOR” amongst the whole of Rotaract District 3141, Mumbai in the year 2018-19. He has also conducted sports events amongst the handicapped or disabled people. He has also represented his school and college in the field of sports by playing Handball at State level, Throwball and Volleyball at District Level and actively participated in other sports.

Jithesh Devershetty

Name: Mr. Jithesh Devershetty
City: Dombivli
Profession: Sports Analyst
Organization: HUDL INDIA PVT. LTD.
Work Experience: 1 year

Jithesh is currently working as a Sports Analyst at HUDL INDIA PVT. LTD., where he does the video analysis of various sports such as American Football, Soccer, Volleyball, and Basketball. At his work he analyzes the video footage of particular sports, and the data is later sent to teams or coaches as per their requirements. As a Sports Analyst for more than a year, he is keen to do more and learn as much as possible before taking his next leap in the sports industry. In the past years, he has worked as an Assistant manager in a renowned league in Mumbai called as Premiership Football League (PFL) where he received wonderful insights while gaining more knowledge in the field of Sports Management. Recently he received his Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Mumbai.

Dhruv Munjal

Name: Mr. Dhruv Munjal
City: New Delhi
Profession: Lead – Corporate Communications
Organization: OYO
Work Experience: 8 years

A journalist for over eight years, Dhruv has worked for Reuters and Business Standard. As a sports correspondent for one of the world’s largest news agencies, he has extensively covered international sport, from football and tennis to cricket and athletics, including the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

In his role as a feature writer at the financial daily Business Standard, he wrote on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, lifestyle and technology, with a special focus on the intersection of sports and business.

Dhruv holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Ramjas College, University of Delhi and a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Before working professionally, he was part of the Hindustan Times Young Editors programme.

Girish Nikam

Name: Mr. Girish Nikam
City: Palghar
Profession: Sports Management Intern
Organization: Palghar District Football Association
Work Experience: 6 Months

Girish recently earned his degree in business management with a specialization in marketing vertical from Mumbai University eminently securing first rank in his college. He has diverse experience on a multitude of levels taken up during his internship as a Sales & Marketing associate at one of the organic food companies to create, design, and execute marketing campaigns, provide end-to-end customer service while mentoring 90+ sales and marketing apprentices, and conducting learning & development sessions for 100+ interns. As a head of the Cultural & Sports Committee during his college tenure wherein he hosted and organized inter-college sports events and as a student manager for Mumbai University’s DLLE (Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension).

He currently interns with PDFA (Palghar District Football Association). His belief in building elemental establishments led him into organizing grass root football and district-level tournaments. He has the inquisitiveness to delve into various dimensions of the sports industry and the strategies that enable the success of a management team. The FIFA CIES executive course will be an encouraging start to fuel his foray into the sports business arena by providing him with a platform to improve his proficiency and add a new horizon to his perspective.

Udit Sharma

Name: Mr. Udit Sharma
City: Jammu
Profession: Scout & Video Analyst
Organization: India Khelo Football (IKF)
Work Experience: 10 years

Commissioned as Short Service Officer into the Indian Navy in the Engineering field, Udit has continuously worked in tandem as Sports Officer in the Navy ecosystem for the last 10 years apart from carrying out his engineering duties. As a Sports Officer for various departments within the Navy, he has excelled in organizing and participating in various sports events, viz, Western Naval Command Football Tournament, Inter Tri-Services Tournament at Andaman Nicobar Command, to name a few. In addition, he has carried out physical fitness regimes and tests for men of his departments. Prior to the Navy tenure, he participated as a football player and represented Param FC in Inter-District tournaments during 2004-2010. He was part of Mughals FC in 2011-12 and played in C-Division Delhi League. Post completing his Indian Navy career, he has opted for starting his second career in the field of Sports, thereby opting for Executive Sport management programme. He has successfully completed Level 1 & 2 AIFF-IPSO Scouting course and certified PFSA Level 1 Talent Identification personnel. He has also completed certification in Football tactical Analysis and is currently pursuing Barca Innovation hub Football Analyst Certification.

Sayam Nasir

Name: Mr. Sayam Nasir
City: Ghaziabad

Sayam Nasir is a college graduate. He completed his schooling from Hillwoods Academy, Preet Vihar, New Delhi and graduated with a degree in BA Journalism and Mass Communication from International school of Media and Entertainment Studies, Noida Aff. Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He is Fluent in English, Hindi, Arabic and German. He has been an active participant in almost all sports since his school days and holds good knowledge in how the local sports industry works. He is currently working as an Independent journalist, blogging, writing and editing work.

Rahul KC

Name: Mr. Rahul KC
City: Kannur
Profession: Ex- Junior Commissioned Officer
Organization: Indian Navy
Work Experience: 15 years

He is a Junior Commissioned Officer (Physical Training, Indian Navy) with over 15 years of extensive, Hands on experience in Physical Training, Sports & Games, Yoga, Swimming & Life Saving, Leadership, Management & Operations, Team Building in high pressure challenging environment. As a Physical Training Instructor, and Asst. Football Coach of various Indian Naval / Indian Armed Forces units like National Defence Academy Indian Naval Academy & Indian Naval Aircraft Carrier ship Viraat, He has Trained thousands of Cadets / Solders/ Men. He was responsible for Physical Training, Physical Efficiency Test, Data Updating, Training Program Making, Sports Administration of various Indian Naval / Indian Armed Forces Units. He is a qualified Third Class Football Referee of western Indian Football Association. He is graduated in Mathematics with Computer Applications and Qualified Diploma in Yoga. He has Completed Various Certificate Courses Namely Leadership, Life Saving & First Aid, Instructor Course (Naval Institute of Education & Training Technology) and MS Office.

Subhashish Koirala

Name: Mr. Subhashish Koirala
City: Kathmandu
Profession: CEO
Organization: Biratnagar City Football Club
Work Experience: 4 years

Subhashish is currently the CEO of Biratnagar City Football Club. He was one of the pioneers in helping brand a newly formed Nepal Super League via the Biratnagar based franchise. He has done his graduation in computer science and engineering and has been one of the pioneers in bridging the IT and sports genre in Nepal. Subhashish has also completed his diplomas in scouting, analytics and youth soccer from Barcelona. In the grass roots sector, he has worked tirelessly to cater to 14 districts in province 1 via Project Province 1. The province houses close to 5 million people. In the project he has successfully provided various elements of the game be it coaching or equipment to the various epicenters across the 14 districts. He has also actively been involved in the women game under the same project. He has also been running one of the longest surviving football focused radio shows titled “THE VAR SHOW”. Subhashish has also been actively involved in developing the football freestyle genre in Nepal. He has successfully overseen the launch of the freestyle league title “CHUNGI”. He is currently in the process of creating Nepal’s first data analytical center in Biratnagar to cater to teams as well as build a much-needed database for the country. Subhashish aspires not only to help improve his personal career but also help uplift the game in Nepal.

Arnold B. Rao

Name: Mr. Arnold B. Rao
City: Jamshedpur

Arnold has completed his schooling from two of the most prestigious institutes of learning namely Little Flower School and Loyola School, both located at Jamshedpur. While at school he had the honour of playing in the Water Polo team of Jharkhand state at the National Games held at Ranchi in the year 2011. Subsequently, he went on to participate in various swimming championships at the Regional and National levels for ICSE schools and was also part of the schools’ Basketball teams that won at the Inter Jesuit East Zone Championship.

He completed his undergraduate degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru. He has also successfully completed an advanced course in Sports Management from Rajasthan Royals School of Business.

He has a degree in Classical Music Instrumental (Guitar-1st year). He was also selected to represent Jharkhand State at WIZ National Spell Bee.

At leisure, he keenly follows soccer and basketball at international level and listens to music.

Rishabh Jallan

Name: Mr. Rishabh Jallan
City: Bengaluru
Profession: Content Manager / Football Writer
Organization: SKOR Metaverse
Work Experience: 1 year

Rishab is a freelance sports writer at World in Sport London where he publishes latest transfer news, previews / review of matches and in-depth analysis on football related topics. He has extensive knowledge in digital marketing, web content creation, content writing and social media marketing as he was the marketing strategist for Samba Digital where he handled the inbound marketing strategies of the company and supported the marketing team in daily operations. He has received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administrations from CMS Jain University Bengaluru India and has received a Master’s degree in Football Business from the Football Business Academy Geneva Switzerland. To pursue his other interest, he is a member of the Bangalore Student Community which is a mass student led organization that aims to engage students, from the city, in humanitarian aid & relief projects. He is an active member of Toastmasters International which is a US-headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking and leadership.

Zeeshan Ghori

Name: Mr. Zeeshan Ghori
City: Khopoli
Profession: Social Media Manager
Organization: Mahatma Education Society – HOC Campus
Work Experience: 2 years

Zeeshan has worked as a Social Media Manager, Filmmaker and a Sports Photographer over the past 4 years. He graduated earlier this year, with a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication as an Advertising Major. He currently works as a Social Media Manager for Pillai’s and has a proficiency in the field, having worked with 6 different social media teams before this. In terms of Filmmaking, he has mostly worked as a Video Editor and a Cinematographer but is exploring all other fields in film. During the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, he worked as a Cinematographer and Photographer for FIFA / Aurora Media. Over the past 5 years he has done Sports Photography for multiple sports and multiple clients.

Anish Ghosh

Name: Mr. Anish Ghosh
City: Kolkata
Profession: Assistant Manager
Organization: HCL Technologies
Work Experience: 3 years

Anish has worked as a legal professional for the past three years. He graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in 2019 and since then has worked as a transactional lawyer at EY (Ernst & Young) and HCL Technologies. His usual day at the workplace involves drafting, negotiating and executing commercial contracts. In his free time, he loves reading, meeting his friends and following the sports teams that he loves. Having a keen interest in sports, he aims to be a participant in the growth of the sports industry in the country.

Yuvraj Singh

Name: Mr. Yuvraj Singh
City: Sirsa
Profession: Tennis Coach
Organization: Ambala Lawn Tennis Academy
Work Experience: 3 years

Yuvraj is Global Professional Tennis Coaches Association (GPTCA) Level C certified tennis coach currently working at the Ambala Lawn Tennis Academy. He has been associated with the sport of tennis since 2008. He represented India in tennis at the 29th Summer Universiade (World University Games) held in Taipei, Taiwan in 2017. He completed his Bachelor’s in Arts from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2018 and won a Bronze Medal for the university at the All India University Games in 2016.

Sports has given him the opportunity to travel the world, meet new people and experience different cultures. He has immense passion for sports and believes that it is a great medium to unite people. His aim is to democratize sports in India by increasing participation in sports and making it accessible for everyone.

Rachana Kamani

Name: Ms. Rachana Kamani
City: Ahmedabad
Profession: Founder
Organization: CitiLines United Fc
Work Experience: 9 Months

Rachana is a National football player and is also a professional football referee at the national level. She is the first female national center referee from Gujarat. She also owns a women’s football team for a gujarat’s auction-based tournament. She has worked with different clubs as a freelancer. She received her bachelor’s of business administration degree in finance from Pandit Deendayal Energy University. She has been awarded with the player of the tournament trophy on 5 different occasions in college level tournaments. She was a Referee Liaison officer for AFC Asian Cup 2022 and has volunteered at Mission 11 million program for the Fifa U-17 World Cup and at Aurora to help them deliver their programmes in partnership with AFC. She is looking forward to working in the sports industry to provide a platform for players and other stakeholders to help them achieve their goals, while her major focus is on women’s sport.

Aarushi Asawa

Name: Ms. Aarushi Asawa
City: Jaipur
Profession: Co-Head Impact Innovator
Organization: Social Impact & Responsible Business Club of Imperial College Business School
Work Experience: 5 years

Aarushi was a former Table-Tennis Nationals player who created history by winning all the women titles i.e. 5 titles at a tender age of 11 years and was declared Rajasthan No.1 in women table tennis for categories U-12, U-14, U-16, Youth & Women in the same year. Henceforth, she was Rajasthan No I or II for 9 years (2002-11) in all age groups and soon enough she was among the top 10 women table tennis players in the country. In 2010, she also lifted the title for the CBSE Open National champion. Moreover, she was honored with the Chacha Nehru Sports Award by the Government of Rajasthan in 2008-09 for being an outstanding sportswoman. In academics, Aarushi later pursued a Bachelor’s in commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Chartered Accountancy. Currently she is a management consultant with KPMG working in strategy and business improvement. She wishes to return to sports in a management role and bring a diverse perspective from her sports, finance, and strategy experience, to encourage sustainable development through sports while uplifting the sports industry.

Abi Varghese

Name: Mr. Abi Varghese
City: Bangalore
Profession: Marketing Executive
Organization: Sportz Village
Work Experience: 1 year

Mr. Varghese is a Marketing Consultant for India’s premier Sports Management Company, Sportz Village. At Sportz Village, he handles marketing operations for its different verticals – Schools, Academies, CSR, and Experiential Marketing. His role involves managing marketing campaigns, branding, positioning, and communications. A mechanical engineer by education, he uses his analytical experience for the good of the Sport Industry. He is also a Project Manager at India Khelo Football, a nonprofit initiative aimed at uplifting the football ecosystem in India. At IKF, he is involved in numerous projects including, sponsorships, marketing, and e-commerce functioning. His previous experience includes working at SportsHosts, a Melbourne-based Fan Engagement Platform. As part of his job responsibility, he worked on New Member acquisition strategy, its execution and expanding marketing channels. He holds certificates in Sport Sponsorship from University at Autonoma de Barcelona and in Digital Marketing from Google. His goal is to pursue the FIFA Masters after the completion of this course.

Anirudh Padmanabhan

Name: Mr. Anirudh Padmanabhan
City: Bangalore
Profession: Esports & Gaming Editor
Organization: Sportskeeda
Work Experience: 2 years

Anirudh has been working as a Senior Audit Assistant at Deloitte (India Offices of the US) for the last 2 years. He has been involved in the audit of various high profile firms based in the US and across Europe. He has completed his bachelor of commerce in finance from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru and was recruited by Deloitte through campus placement. An ardent sports fan, he follows various sports like Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton etc. and was also part of the cricket and football teams during his school days. His passion for sports has led him to look for opportunities in the field of sports management, switching from the audit field.

Darryl Parmar

Name: Mr. Darryl Parmar
City: Pune
Profession: Football Coach
Organization: ISST Football Academy
Work Experience: 1.5 years

He works as a Football Coach at the Institute of Sports Sciences and Technology (ISST), Pune. Within the sports sector, in 2020, he has completed his Masters in Sports Sciences degree from ISST Pune. Darryl has also completed various sports workshops in Sports Management, Sports Mental Training, Football Coaching, Strength and Conditioning, Football Scouting, and Talent Identification. Outside the sports industry, Darryl has completed his Masters in Commerce degree, specializing in Business Administration, from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2021, being his highest educational qualification in the commerce stream. In 2018, he completed his Bachelors in Commerce, specializing in Cost and Works Accounting. Voluntary activities in sports include being a part of “Gift-a-Sport” an NPO that donated sports apparel and equipment to underprivileged children and organizing the ISST Football League, being a part of the ISST Sports.

Krishnan Sreekumar

Name: Mr. Krishnan Sreekumar
City: Bangalore
Profession: Legal Associate
Organization: King Stubb & Kasiva, Advocates & Attorneys
Work Experience: 1.5 years

Krishnan is a lawyer working in the general corporate practice area. He currently serves as a legal associate at Trilegal, a corporate law firm, at its Bangalore office. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Legislative Law degree from National Law University, Jodhpur. He has acted on complex, high value, cross-border as well as domestic transactions. He has experience in acting for large Indian and foreign corporate groups on outbound acquisition transactions in multiple jurisdictions, as well as funds formation and structuring to advising on primary and secondary investments. He has also assisted clients in exits and provided advice on enforcing contractual rights in contentious settlements. Krishnan was a member and team leader of Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access, a non-profit working in India which aims to empower underprivileged children by giving them access to quality legal education.

Haresh Doria

Name: Mr. Haresh Doria
City: Gujarat
Profession: Project Manager
Organization: TAM Media Research
Work Experience: 13 years

Haresh has worked as Media Analyst for Tam Media Research. Since 2015, he has been working as project manager. He has worked on projects like ISL, Pro Kabbadi League, IPL where he has provided reports on coverage of earned media to its clients. He has provided them with insights on marketing and advertising in the sports category. He is very passionate about sports. During his school days, Haresh represented his school in athletes at various state level and national level. He has passions regarding travelling, football and swimming. And had little experience of managing a football team Rangers Football Team of Vadodara at a local tournament. Haresh has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat.

Abhishek Venkatesha

Name: Mr. Abhishek Venkatesha
City: Bangalore
Profession: Sales Development Representative
Organization: LimeChat
Work Experience: 6 years

Abhishek is a Business development and Sales professional working at a SaaS startup in Bangalore that caters to Indian and European markets. He also worked at a blockchain startup, Infoeaze as a founding employee for close to 3 years, where he led business development and market research initiatives.

He received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Management from Sheffield Hallam University, UK in 2015. After his undergraduation, until 2020 he owned and operated Football Nation, a small-sided football turf and also operated a football academy for age groups 6-16 years. He is an AIFF ‘D’ Licence holder. He has represented his school and university across the country in football, cricket, basketball and hockey.

Gurdit Singh Sudan

Name: Mr. Gurdit Singh Sudan
City: Mumbai
Profession: Fitness Trainer
Organization: Superprof
Work Experience: 6 years

Gurdit is a third Dan black belt in Taekwondo, national level athlete and has been a coach since 7+ years. He has experience in coaching at schools, colleges, fitness hubs, acting schools, NGOs and remotely with clients worldwide. He is an expert in body weight training and Taekwondo combat training. He has trained thousands of students so far and has also prepared athletes who compete at national level. Currently he is working as a freelancer (fitness and martial arts coach) and is looking forward to setting up a fitness hub of his own in near future. He has completed his Bachelors in Information Technology and has been working in MNC -Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Health – US based health care company, as Team Manager from June 2019-December 2021.

Sivamohan S.

Name: Mr. Sivamohan S.
City: Mumbai
Profession: VForce Coordinator
Organization: UNV India
Work Experience: 4 years

Sivamohan is a multifaceted person wearing multiple hats of an Athlete, Wrestler, Social Worker, Farmer, and Human Rights Activist. He is a National Bronze Medalist in Kurash and the Captain of the Kerala Kurash Team. He was the former V Force Coordinator for United Nations Volunteers India. He has volunteered for many sports management events for the past ten years. Volunteering for local and international events for the V Force, United Nations Volunteers India organisation gave him a rich experience of all aspects of event management. He has played a vital role as a part of the Flood Relief and Rescue Operations during the Kerala Floods in 2018 and 2019. He currently provides coaching in sports for children at the grassroot level.

Sushant Dhakane

Name: Mr. Sushant Dhakane
City: Mumbai
Profession: Legal Intern
Organization: Godrej Properties Limited
Work Experience: 1 year

Sushant is currently pursuing his LLB degree. He is also an avid athlete having played multiple sports in his schooling days like volleyball, badminton, football. He started playing football at the age of 12 and at the age 15 he played for Nationals U-17. He has played football at National Level for the state of Maharashtra in the year 2015. In his college he was in the organising committee for sports and organised sports events, he was also a part of the football team his college.

He continues his passion for football in his law school and organises sports events in his law school. Currently he is majoring in five year law degree from the prestigious Government Law College, Mumbai. He has worked as an legal intern in law firms under Senior Advocates of Bombay High Court.

He was also a legal intern at one of the oldest firms in India Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe. His ultimate goal is to work as a sports lawyer and stay connected to sports.