Football community mourns the loss of Ahmed Khan

Bengaluru, August 28: Glowing tributes poured in for former Indian footballer and double Olympian Ahmed Khan who breathed his last on Sunday (August 27).

The 90-year-old who hails from a family of footballers is survived by his wife Rabia Begum, son Amjad Khan and daughter Praveen Begum.

Ahmed's father, Baba Khan, was captain of local club Bangalore Crescent, while two of his uncles turned out for Mohammedan Sporting in Kolkata.

Ahmed's three brothers - Amjad, Sharmat and Latif - all played the game at various levels.

Ahmed's compatriot I Arumainayagam fondly remembered him.
"His close control was so good that they called him the snake-charmer, for he could make the ball do his bidding.We used to call him paambati. His death is a big loss to Indian football."

Ahmed, who is the last of glorious generation of barefooted footballers, represented the country in the 1948 London Olympics and 1952 Helsinki Games. He was also a member of India's gold-medal winning side at 1951 New Delhi Asian Games.

Tributes poured in from the Twitterati too.

A true legend of the game. RIP Ahmed Khan. pic.twitter.com/BKPBOjToVl

— FC Pune City (@FCPuneCity) August 28, 2017

Beginning his career at Bangalore Crescents, Ahmed later moved to Bangalore Muslims, before making his presence felt after switching to East Bengal.

"For a long time he was the point reference at East Bengal," said noted football historian Novy Kapadia. "The club guys would let players, 'We can't pay you so much because we pay Ahmed so much.' He was their ultimate forward."

East Bengal general secretary Kalyan Majumder also paid rich tributes to Ahmed.
"With outstanding individual brilliance the barefooted AHmed was capable of deciding the fate of any match all by himself. Even after boots were made mandatory I recall his outstanding performance in the 1958 IFA Shield final when he along with Balaram destroyed Mohun Bagan to win the Trophy," Majumder recalled.