India’s Greymatter to produce all TV content for historic Roshan Afghan Premier League

Sept. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- The Roshan Afghan Premier League – a pioneering effort initiated by The Afghan Football Federation (AFF) in partnership with the Moby Group -- kicks off in Kabul on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Supported by the governing body of football, FIFA, as well as the AFC (Asian Football Confederation), this event heralds a new chapter in the history of Afghanistan where sports and entertainment will unite to usher in unity and peace in the war-torn country. Uniquely enough, the 8 participating teams covering the eight provinces of Afghanistan have been selected through a football reality show called 'Maidan Sabz', (the green field). Mumbai-based Greymatter Entertainment, which played an important role in designing and filming the path-breaking reality show, have also been entrusted with producing all the television content for this prestigious event.
Commenting on the importance of the APL to Afghanistan and the excitement it has created across the country, Saranwal Ikram, President of the AFF, said, "For establishment of peace and stabilization in the country, we must not only focus on training soldiers because sports itself is the biggest instrument of peace through the encouragement of unity, integration, pride and prevents racism, drugs and other elements that bring insecurity to the country. Today, the Football Federation of Afghanistan, with the help of the Moby Group and sponsoring companies, for the first time, are taking the biggest step for the development of football in Afghanistan”.
The Roshan Afghan Premier League is scheduled from 18th September to 19th October 2012. The selection process combed through thousands of entries in each province and the short-listed players were put through tasks that tested them for mental, physical and football skills. The 'Maidan Sabz', (the green field) TV series ran for 10 successful weeks and concluded in early September. Now, two groups of 4 teams will play a total of 12 round-robin matches + Semis + the Final along with some all-star games, and they will be carried live on Tolo TV & Lemar TV – Afghanistan’s most watched channels. Over 50 hours of this content will also be heard on Radio and will be web-cast, for digital viewers around the world. The matches will be held across 2 venues with the round robin + semi-finals being held on the AFF Stadium and Finals extravaganza will be played at the Ghazi Olympic Stadium. The tournament is expected to run to full house capacity.
Saad Mohseni, Chairman of the Moby Group, said, “We have wanted to take football to a new level in Afghanistan for many years, and we are very proud that this is finally taking place. We believe the Roshan Afghan Premier League will have a tremendous positive impact on the country and its people.”  Adding to this Chris McDonald, senior advisor to the RAPL and MOBY Group, and founder and former CEO of Ten Sports, said, “The RAPL has created great excitement across Afghanistan, and will serve as an inspiration to young men/women and boys/girls. Football cuts across all ethnic boundaries here, and will help to unite Afghans though their love of the game”.
Chandradev Bhagat, Founder and CEO - Greymatter Entertainment, which is producing all the television content for this historic initiative, said, “Football has a truly global appeal, and the Roshan Afghan Premier League is much more than just another football tournament. As an Indian company, we at Greymatter feel honored and privileged to be associated with this inspiring initiative of using the magnet of sporting entertainment for peace. We will use our best international experience of producing sports and general entertainment for television, to get to the heart of this human story and deliver its historic pictures”.
In a short period of 3 years, Greymatter Entertainment has made a name for itself as a powerful company for creative content solutions in Sports and Entertainment. They have been part of two back-to back Emvies, with Gold in 2011 for the Pepsi Change the Game campaign around the last ICC Cricket World Cup, and Silver in 2012 with MTV Captain’s Shack Reality Show. Some of their other projects include over 500 hours of IPL programming, Grammy Awards shows, India’s 1st Formula One reality show and most recently, the much-appreciated coverage of the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in August 2012. The production design of the APL will count as one of the most elaborate live sports television productions in Afghanistan.