Former Indian football player Ali passes away aged 84 years

KOLKATA: Former Indian football player Mir Kasim Ali passed away peacefully at the age of 84 years in his hometown Kolkata on Saturday.

Ali also plied his trade for Mohammedan Sporting Club and Railways. Mohammedan Sporting Club President Amiruddin Bobby and other executive members have expressed their deep condolences on the sad demise of Ali. ‘May his soul rest in peace,’ wrote the club on their social media plaform as tributes poured in from all the quarters of the society.

Aliplayedalongsidethelikesofpkbanerjee,who was the then captain of the Indian team.

Ali was one of the probables for the big Games. Nothing short of talent, yet Ali could not make it to the Olympic team perhaps because he played in an era, which is still considered as the golden age of Indian football.

Playing in Indian national team was one of the toughest job because of the cuthroat competition.

With the lack of proper grass-root infrastructure, it was a tough nut to crack for the aspirants in those days. Football was struggling to cement its foot in the realm of Indian sporting fraternity ater the independence.

The popularity of cricket was rising by leaps and boundacrossthecountry,butthefootball-madindian state West Bengal kept the light of the game flickering through the clubs. East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting and Mohun Bagan are one of the oldest clubs in the history of Indian football.

West Bengal, particularly Kolkata, is credited to have churned out the most number of football players who went on to represent the country later and Ali was also one of them, who got his name etched on the pinnacle of the Indian football.

If today football is thriving in India with the tournament like Indian Super League (ISL), it is just because of the sacrifices of players of Ali’s era who dared make a career in the sports in the hardest of the conditions.