Amal Dutta after his last breath in his residence. Xtra Time[/caption]Kolkata: Former India international and inventor of "Diamond' system in Indian football, Amal Dutta passed away on Sunday at 8:10 p.m. in his residence. He was 86. The former India international was one of the most revered club coaches in Indian football history and was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease of late.
He was suffering from breathing problems, but was well till the morning. His condition deteriorated in the evening. The doctors came for treatment and tried their level best but could not help.
A midfielder during his playing days, Dutta represented India in the 1954 Asian Games at Manila. Post his playing career, he went to England for a one-year FA coaching course, where he was taught by the renowned Walter Winterbottom.
On returning to India his first major assignment was to coach the Railways in 1960 for the Santosh Trophy. His first assignment with a big club was in 1963 with East Bengal.
Besides city giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, he also coached the Indian national team. Hailed as the country's first professional coach, he is credited for shaping Indian football. He was renowned for his bold and innovative tactics and formation.
His rivalry with fellow coach Pradip Kumar Banerjee was one of the major talking points in Indian football for almost three decades.
He won almost all major trophies in Indian football and served as head coach and technical director of Indian national team at different time points. His last stint at the helm of a club a decade back when he took charge of Mohun Bagan but resigned midway into the season.
Indian football lost a guardian on Sunday and lost of one of its most colourful characters. The shoes are too big to be filled.
Sports Minister, Aroop Biswas said, "Amal Dutta's dead body will be at his residence till 7 a.m. in the morning. Then he will be taken to his another residence at Ganesh talkies. At 10 a.m. his dead body will be taken to Rabindra Sadan where it will be kept till 2 p.m. in the afternoon. During this period anybody can come and pay homage to the legend. In between, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will pay her last homage to the legend around 11:30 a.m. At last, his dead body will be taken to Nimtala Burning Ghat for the cremation ceremony."
MoS of Sports, Laxmi Ratan Shukla looked very sad by the legend's passing away. He said, "Amal Dutta's death is a huge loss to the sports fraternity, He was like a guide and philosopher to us. His loss cannot be fulfilled."
Former Mohun Bagan footballer and coach and currently Bagan football secretary Satyajit Chatterjee, who was Amal Dutta's student too in Mohun Bagan mourned on his death. He said, " To me Amal Sir was an inventor of everything in football. He used to invent new tactics everyday. His loss will never be fulfilled. I do not have words to say. He has coached in all aspects."
East Bengal official, Debabrata Sarkar said, "Amal Da played for East Bengal and coached East Bengal too. We have some mixture of memories of him. Its a big loss for Indian football." On asking Debabrata Sarkar about naming any stand on the name of the legend, he said, "I cannot say anything standing here right now nor I can make any announcement. We will sit together and take a collective decision soon on how to pay tribute to him."
Meanwhile, Mohun Bagan have cancelled their training session for tomorrow and the players will be present in the club tent at 1:30 p.m. to pay homage to the legend when his dead body visits Bagan tent for the final time. Bagan's flag will also be half-hoisted tomorrow the whole day.
East Bengal flag will also be half-hoisted and Amal Dutta's dead body will also visit the Red and Gold tent for the last time in the presence of the officials. East Bengal players are not available as they are in Kalyani for the residential camp.
0 comments:
Post a Comment