AFC condoles death of PK Banerjee

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Friday condoled the demise of the legendary Indian footballer PK Banerjee who once was considered among the best in the continent in his time.

"We at AFC condole the passing of former Indian captain, coach and technical director Mr Pradip Kumar Banerjee," the AFC said in a tweet.

Banerjee, a footballing colossus of his time and a raconteur for life, died in Kolkata on Friday aged 83, having dribbled and dazzled for a good part of his mind-boggling 51 years of service to the game.

He was suffering from respiratory problems due to pneumonia and had an underlying history of Parkinson's disease, dementia and heart problem. Banerjee, who was on life support at a hospital here since March 2, breathed his last at 12:40pm.

He is survived by daughters Paula and Purna, who are renowned academicians, and younger brother Prasun Banerjee, a sitting Trinamool Congress MP., apart from being a former India captain.

The 1962 Asian Games gold-medallist's best days as a player coincided with Indian football's golden era. He scored 65 international goals in 84 appearances for the national team.

His contribution was duly recognised by FIFA which rated him as India's greatest player of the 20th century, bestowing him with the Centennial Order of Merit in 2004.