Former Indian football team captain Olympian Chandrasekharan dies

KOCHI: O Chandrasekharan, Indian footballer who participated in 1960 Rome Olympics and former Indian team captain, died here Tuesday. He was 86. He was lying sick for years. Olympian Chandrasekaran was a member of the Indian team that won the Asian Games in 1962. Chandrasekaran, who had led the Indian team in many tournaments has always been a loyal defender of India.

Chandrasekharan, who made his debut for the Indian team in 1958, made his professional football debut through the Caltex Club in Mumbai. Chandrasekaran retired from the national team in 1966 and was a member of the State Bank of Travancore (SBI) until 1973. In addition to the Olympics and Asian Games gold, Chandrasekharan won silver in the AFC Asian Cup in 1964 and the Merdeka Cup in 1959 and 1964. Chandrasekaran also wore the Indian team shirt during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics qualifying round. He hailed from Irinjalakuda in Thrissur.