Polami Adhikary, Once a Female Football Star Who Represented India Internationally, Now a Food Delivery Agent

In a heart wrenching development, social media has been flooded with footage of Polami Adhikary, who was once an Indian female football star who represented India on an international level, is now a Zomato food delivery agent. While there are various rags to riches stories of home-grown talent making it big on international level, this is the story of what happens when there’s no financial support if one plays a sport that doesn’t start with ‘c’ and ends with ‘t’.

Recently, a Twitter user called Sanjukta Choudhury took to the platform and shared a video of Palomi Adhikary, who is now working as a food delivery agent for a food tech giant. The video has since gone viral and has been viewed over 64,000 times and has sparked a debate on how much is left to be desired when it comes to supporting female sports players in India.

After the video went viral, Palomi spoke to various news outlets and shared her story. Talking to India Today, Palomi said, “In 2012, I played for the U-16 Women’s team. See, I did never want my football career to get finished, but due to financial conditions, I had to start this delivery business”. She also represented the country in Sri Lanka, Germany and UK.

Contents hide

1. The Facts of the Matter

2. Palomi Adhikary – The Underdog Footballer

3. Going to Glassgow for Homeless World Cup

4. Working in COVID, Receiving Call from AIFF

The Facts of the Matter

While crores of rupees are poured into cricket in India, and even women’s cricket is now being looked as the next best revenue churning avenue, football continues to be an obscure sport where players often don’t receive support of governing bodies and federation. This is especially true for female football players, who often have to put their dream and passion aside, and take an odd job to sustain.

Case in point, 24-year-old Palomi Adhikary, who once represented India on an international level. Due to dire financial situation, Palomi now works as a Zomato food delivery agent.

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Palomi Adhikary – The Underdog Footballer

Palomi’s story came forth in the form of a video which has been making rounds of social media. In the video gone viral, Palomi can be seen heard mentioning that she is professionally a football player. She adds that she has represented both nationally and internationally, and with a determined smile on her face, adds that she is now working as a food delivery agent to make ends meet.

She is Polami Adhikary a football player who has represented India at the international level. Today she has to support her family as an online food delivery person. #football pic.twitter.com/pGnJ0QOUEg

— Sanjukta Choudhury (@SanjuktaChoudh5) January 10, 2023

In a feature story with ABP, Palomi said that she was part of the Under 16 Indian women’s national team. She also took part in the 2013 qualifiers for the AFC Women’s Championship. However, things went down to an unfortunate spiral due to an injury.

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Going to Glassgow for Homeless World Cup

While many women would’ve given up in such a situation Palomi focused on her fitness and post-recovery, she went to Glasgow to play the 2016 Homeless World Cup. She was part of the Indian contingent which ended up on the 6^th position.

“When I came back, I didn’t receive any support as such, from Bengal or anywhere, which I should have. Moreover, there was also the responsibility of running the house, which my father wasn’t being able to manage alone. Hence, I was compelled to pick up the Zomato bag,” the weary yet determined footballer said

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Working in COVID, Receiving Call from AIFF

During COVID, she started with food delivery stint and earned as much as Rs 500 a day on a rented two-wheeler. However, as the lockdowns lifted and competition grew stiffer by the day, she finds it difficult to earn Rs 200-300 a day, averaging only about Rs 20 a delivery on a good day.

A student of Charuchandra College at the University of Calcutta, she received a call from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) after her video went viral, and dreams to reignite her footballing career once again.