AIFF to felicitate surviving 1951 & 1962 Asian Games football gold medallists!

In a suiting gesture the All India Football Federation will be felicitating the surviving members of the gold medal winning 1951 and 1962 Asian Games football teams on Tuesday, August 21 as part of a function to mark the federation's 75th anniversary.

"We will felicitate the living members of the 1951 and the 1962 Asia Games gold medal winning teams. It is unfortunate that several members of the two teams are not alive. The AIFF's 75 years also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1962 gold winning feat. So, the AIFF has decided to honour the heroes who have given so much to Indian football," an AIFF spokesperson told agencies.

In 1951 the inaugural Asian Games where held in New Delhi and the football team under the legendary captain Sailendra Nath Manna won the gold medal with Sahu Mewalal scoring the winner against Iran.

11 years later in Jakarta, India won their second and until now last gold medal in Asian Games football. It was a 2-1 final victory against South Korea with P.K. Banerjee and the late Jarnail Singh scoring.


The list of players to be felicitated

1951 Asian Games: Ahmed Khan (Bengal), T. Shanmugham (Mysore), T.M. Varghese (Bombay)

1962 Asian Games: D.M.K. Afzal (Andhra Pradesh), Arumai Nayagam (Bengal), Tulsidas Balaram (Bengal), P.K. Banerjee (Bengal), Prodyut Barman (Railways), O. Chandrashekar (Bombay), Ethiraj (Services), Fortunata A. Franco (Bombay), Arun Ghosh (Bengal), Chuni Goswami (Bengal), Prasanta Sinha (Bengal)


Complete 1951 Asian Games squad
Goalkeepers: B. Anthony (Bengal), K.L. Varadaraj (Mysore)
Backs: Sailendra Nath Manna (Mohun Bagan AC - CAPTAIN), Syed Khwaja Azizuddin (Hyderabad City Police), T.M. Varghese [alias Papen] (Bombay), Sunil Chatterjee (Bengal).
Half Backs: Abdul Latif (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Noor Mohammed (Hyderabad City Police), Chandan Singh Rawat (Services), Abhoy Ghosh (Bengal), D.N. Jones (Services), T. Shanmugham (Mysore)
Forwards: Pansanttom Venkatesh (East Bengal Club), G.Y.S. Laiq (Hyderabad City Police), M.A. Sattar (Bengal), P.B.A. Saleh (Bengal), Runu Guha Thakurta (Bengal), Sahu Mewalal (Bengal), Santosh Nandy (Bengal), M. Ahmed Khan (Bengal), Loganathan (Madras), A.M. Bachan (Orissa)
COACH: SYED ABDUL RAHIM (Hyderabad); MANAGER: KARTICK CHANDRA MUKHERJEE (Bengal)

Complete 1962 Asian Games squad
Goalkeepers: Peter Thangaraj (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Prodyut Burman (Railways)
Backs: O. Chandrashekar (Bombay), Jarnail Singh (Mohun Bagan AC), Trilok Singh (Services), Arun Ghosh (East Bengal Club), D.M.K. Afzal (Hyderabad City Police)
Half Backs: Fortunata A. Franco (ICL-Bengal Club, Bombay), Ram Bahadur (East Bengal Club), Prasanto Sinha (Bengal)
Forwards: P.K. Banerjee (Railways), Chuni Goswami (Mohun Bagan AC - CAPTAIN), Tulsidas Balaram (East Bengal Club), Ethiraj (Services), Mohammed Yousuf Khan (Hyderabad City Police), Arumai Nayagam (Mohun Bagan AC)
COACH: SYED ABDUL RAHIM (Hyderabad); MANAGER: NURUL AMIN (Assam)