The official mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, ‘Kheleao’ was unveiled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The clouded leopard is an endangered wild cat whose habitat extends from the Himalayan foothills to mainland Southeast Asia.
Kheleao will participate in numerous activities in the run-up to the first-ever FIFA tournament to be hosted by India, which will be played from 6 to 28 October this year.
Driven by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi´s vision of making football the sport of choice in India, Mission XI Million, the biggest school sport outreach programme was launched by the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel.
A first of its kind, the programme will encourage children to play the beautiful game of football, gain healthy habits and learn important life lessons in teamwork and sportsman spirit.
The approach is to work with school principals and sports teachers and encourage and incentivise them to make children play football games on regular basis.
The aim is to spread the message of productivity amongst all stakeholders
