Bhaichung Bhutia Part of AFC’s COVID-19 Awareness Video Campaign

Bhaichung is the first Indian player to play 100 international matches before current national team skipper Sunil Chhetri surpassed him.

(Photo: Reuters)

Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia will feature in Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) public awareness campaign on the COVID-19 pandemic, the continental body said.

The #BreakTheChain campaign features some of Asia’s biggest names in football, sharing inspiring messages of solidarity and timely reminders on the best health practices and guidelines put in place by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"The #BreakTheChain campaign features some of Asia's finest from all across the Continent, such as 2018 AFC Women's Player of the Year, Wang Shuang from China PR, Indian legend Bhaichung Bhutia and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' and 2016 AFC Champions League winner Lee Dong-gook with several more big names poised to join the series in the upcoming instalments," the AFC said in a statement.

Bhaichung was inducted in the Asian Football Hall of Fame by the AFC in 2014.

Other Asian stalwarts featuring in the video awareness campaign include former Saudi Arabia talisman Yasser Al Qahtani, Hong Kong’s history-making coach Chan Yuen Ting, as well as Australia forward Adam Taggart

.The campaign carries the message of solidarity in these challenging times and promotes the guidelines put in place by WHO to practice good personal hygiene, social distancing and where enforced, respecting the #StayAtHome rules.

Legendary Bhutia was the Indian football's poster boy for more than a decade before his retirement in 2011. He was the first Indian player to play 100 international matches before current national team skipper Sunil Chhetri surpassed him.

Bhutia was inducted in the Asian Football Hall of Fame by the AFC in 2014.