Legendary footballer & Olympian PK Banerjee no more: Sources

Legendary Indian footballer and two-time Olympian PK Banerjee passed away on Friday at of 83 years, according to family sources. Asian Games gold medallist was suffering from Sepsis and multi-organ failure due to pneumonia on a background of Parkinson's disease, dementia, and heart problems. He was on ventilator support in intensive care unit for more than two weeks w. He was hospitalized on February 7. 

PK Banerjee more

Banerjee is survived by daughters Paula and Purna, who are rewned acemicians, and younger bror Prasun Banerjee, who is a sitting Trinamool Congress MP. 1962 Asian Games gold-medallist, whose best days as a striker coincided with Indian football's golden era, was suffering from respiratory problems due to pneumonia. He also h an underlying history of Parkinson's disease, dementia and heart problem.

He was on life support at a hospital here since March 2 and bread his last at 12:40pm, according to a family member. Born on June 23, 1936 in Moynaguri on outskirts of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Banerjee's family relocated to his uncle's place in Jamshedpur before partition. He scored 65 international goals in 84 appearance for national team.

Besides winning gold medal at Jakarta Asian Games in 1992, Banerjee led India in 1960 Rome Olympics, where he scored equaliser against a formidable French team in a 1-1 draw. Before that, Banerjee represented India in 1956 Melbourne Olympics and played a key role in ir 4-2 win over Australia in quarterfinals. Banerjee's contribution to Indian football was duly recognised by world governing body FIFA that awarded him Centennial Order of Merit in 2004. 

Imputs from PTI

Im credits: Twitter