KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Transport, Sports and Youth Affairs Mumtaz Hussain Jakhrani on Monday gave away cash awards of Rs50,000 and souvenirs to each member of the football team that clinched bronze medal in the Street Children World Cup 2014.

Minister for Social Welfare Rubina Sadat Qaimkhani, Minister for Kutchi Abadis Javed Nagori, PPP lawmaker Sania Naz and Azad Foundation representative Irfan Maqbool attended the award ceremony held at the sports minister’s office.

The sports minister applauded efforts of the social welfare minister and non-governmental organisations for assisting the children in participating in the world cup event. Without the support of the NGO and the social welfare department, it was not possible for the children to raise the national flag in the event, he said.

Mr Jakhrani appreciated the devotion of children as despite lack of funds, they showed their complete dedication in the event and defeated the teams of India and the United States.

The minister said that a lot of money was spent on cricket players despite the fact that they had repeatedly disappointed the nation with their abysmal performance.

“We will be focusing more on the street childrens football game and an event at the provincial and district level will be organised by the provincial department in July in order to get more talent in this field,” he declared.—PPI