Khumanthem Ninthoinganba Meetei (born 13 July 2001), commonly known as Ninthoi, is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

Career

Born in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

, Meetei was part of the AIFF Elite Academy batch that was preparing for the

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after the ...

to be hosted in India. After the tournament, Meetei was selected to play for the

Indian Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talen ...

, an

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

-owned team that would consist of India under-20 players to give them playing time. He made his professional debut for the side 5 December 2017 against Minerva Punjab. He came on as an 85th-minute substitute as Indian Arrows lost 2–0.

NorthEast United

Ninthoinganba Meetei, fondly known as Ninthoi was signed by

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

following a terrific 2018-19 campaign for the Indian Arrows on a 3 years deal. Ninthoi had a formidable

debut with NorthEast United, making 11 appearances and averaging 18 passes per game. Retained ahead of the 2020-21 season, he will look to play a telling role for the Highlanders.

Chennaiyin

On 7 September 2021,

announced that they had completed the signing of Ninthoi on a three-year deal.

International

Meetei represented the India under-17 side which participated in the

which was hosted in India. He won the Most Valuable Player Award in

2019 SAFF U-18 Championship The 2019 SAFF U-18 Championship was be the 3rd edition of the SAFF U-18 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-18 national teams organized by SAFF. The tournament will be hosted by Nepal from September 20 to 29 Septemb ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

India U-19 *

SAFF U-18 Championship The SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Championship is a biennial football championship for male footballers under the age of 20 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship was held for the first time in August 2015 in Nepal. ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Imphal Indian men's footballers AIFF Elite Academy players Indian Arrows players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Manipur I-League players India men's youth international footballers Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players {{India-footy-bio-stub