Calcutta: Olympian and 1951 Asian Games gold medal-winning football captain Sailen Manna passed away at a city hospital in the wee hours of Monday. He was 87, and is survived by wife Abha and daughter Nilanjana.
Manna was rushed to the hospital at around 11 pm on Sunday after his condition deteriorated. Manna’s wife Abha said: “He was put on life support… But his condition did not improve. My daughter was with him. The doctors tried everything… The sad news came at around 1.55 am.”
Later in the evening, he was cremated at the Keoratola Burning Ghat.
The talented Manna started his career with Howrah Union in 1940. His skill and performance were hailed by everyone and it did not take long before a big club came calling.
Mohun Bagan recruited Manna two years later and he continued to wear the green and maroon jersey till his retirement in 1960. He also captained the Mohun Bagan side from 1950-1955.
The former central defender is the only footballer to have captained a big club, Bengal and India in Olympics. In the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 Manna led the Indian team.
A defender par excellence Manna’s duels with Ahmed Khan of East Bengal is part of folklore. And old timers, who are in their sixties now, still talk about his equaliser against East Bengal in a 1955 Calcutta League match.
A local legend and probably the best defender India has produced after Gostho Paul, the Padma Shri’s exploits on the field inspired the likes of Chuni Goswami and PK Banerjee to take football as a career. No wonder PK was emotional on Monday.
“Mannada was an ideal sportsman and a perfect gentleman. He never committed a foul on the pitch. Though he was not a great tackler, his anticipation was brilliant. So much was his influence that every player in the country used to address him as ‘captain’,” PK said.
Former India captain and Manna’s only surviving contemporary Badru Banerjee was also emotional.
Badru said Indian football has lost one of its pillars. “He was an institution … I was fortunate to have played under him… I learnt a lot from him,” Badru said.
Throughout his playing career Manna never played for any other club other than Bagan.
But the present regime of Bagan hardly has done anything for the iconic footballer. And his family never forgot that. So it was not surprising when the family members snubbed the Bagan officials, who requested them to bring Manna’s body to the club.
“The officials ignored him. So, we didn’t want him to be taken to the club,” said Abha.
He became the second footballer after Gostho Pal, to be awarded the Padma Shri in 1971.
Among other honours, he was included in the list of the 10 best captains of the world by the English Football Association in 1953. He was also awarded the ‘Footballer of the Millennium’ by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in 2000.
