Former India football captain Shabbir Ali suffers massive heart attack

Former India football skipper Shabbir Ali suffered a massive heart attack on Monday afternoon and was rushed to Woodlands hospital in Kolkata.

According to family sources, the former India striker suffered a cardiac arrest around 1:30 pm at his Mission Row office and was rushed to the hospital where he suffered another heart attack — this attack was a massive one even as doctors attending him were going through his ECG report.

The former football star, who turned out for famed Kolkata clubs – East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting – suffered a massive cardiac arrest at the emergency department and was resuscitated and admitted in the Critical Care Unit under Dr. Suresh Choraria, Director (Interventional Cardiology). He is on ventilator and cardio protective medicine support and his condition is stated to be critical.

An Allahabad Bank Scale-I officer, Shabbir – touted as the one of the best strikers in the seventies and eighties – first rose to fame when he led India to glory in the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok jointly with Iran in 1974, a performance which even earned praise from the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

The 57-year-old made Mohammedan Sporting his home – playing for them for twelve years (1973-1985).

Shabbir was awarded the Dhyan Chand Award, the highest award in Indian sports for lifetime achievement in 2011.

He made 110 international appearances and scored 35 international goals. He remains one of India’s all-time top scorers, ahead of legends like Chuni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Inder Singh and Baichung Bhutia.

Shabbir dazzled at the 1976 Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, where he scored a hat-trick against Indonesia in the first 35 minutes of play.

He is among only five Indians to score an international hat-trick and his effort against Indonesia is the fastest by any Indian footballer.

Shabbir hung up his boots in the mid-eighties and soon wore the coaching hat.

He coached Mohammedan Sporting in 1992-93 before going on to coach sides like Rajasthan Club, Peerless, Salgaocar, Mahindra United, Churchill Brothers and Southern Samity (where he is presently engaged as a coach).

Hospital sources say Shabbir will be kept under observation for 48 hours before doctors decided on his future course of action.