RIP V.P.Sathyan
41 year old former Indian captain V.P.Sathyan is dead. Reports suggest that he committed suicide.
The suicide note reads:
“I was vexed in life. I had lost my wealth as I was habituated to drinking and gambling. I had lot of respect and admiration in the society as long as I was a football player for India. But at present, I’ve lost everything. I don’t want to live in this world anymore,” read the suicide note.
Sathyan was the All India Football Federation player of the year in 1995. He was a true servant of the game though usually away from the spotlight. Read Bikash Mohapatra remembering Sathyan.
Telegraph has a detailed report:
While his other teammates in the then crack Kerala team, such as I.M. Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri, rose to become glamour boys of Indian football, Sathyan somehow remained the unsung hero…
All these years, no one really talked and discussed the classic and world-class goal he scored against South Korea in 1986 in Merdeka. A rookie defender then, Sathyan took India to the quarter-finals with a terrific 35-yard shot that had both his teammates and rivals completely stunned.
Sathyan himself never regretted it, leave alone talking about his achievements.
Read the reactions of the football fraternity.
It is a bit sad that we remember achievements and talk of the great deeds of people only when they are no more. The bigger question worth pondering is whether Sathyan would have met this fate had there been more recognition for him and had Indian football been better off. We don’t know that answer.
Regardless, this is a very tragic loss to Indian sports.
Tags: Indian Football.
