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The only referee
Komaleeswaran Shankar is the only Indian referee till date to feature in the World Cup and he achieved this feat in the 2002 edition. Born in Chennai, Shankar had been in the FIFA panel for several years but June 3 2002 was undoubtedly the best day of his career as he was one of the assistant referees in the group stage encounter between Mexico and Croatia at the Niigata Stadium, Niigata in Japan. The pride in becoming the first Indian referee to appear in a World Cup match was clearly evident when tears went down his cheek just before kickoff. He was also the assistant referee in two other group stage matches – Belgium vs Tunisia and Belgium vs Russia.
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Match commissioner
Dasmunsi with FIFA president Sepp Blatter
Four years after Shankar’s appearance, former AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi became the first Indian to be a match commissioner in a World Cup match. This was achieved in the 2006 edition of course in Germany and in fact, Dasmunsi was the match commissioner for a couple of fixtures, both played in Stuttgart. He was first in charge of the group stage game between Spain and Tunisia with the former winning 3-1. Dasmunsi’s second game will always have a place in football history as English referee Graham Poll showed Croatia’s Josip Simunic three yellow cards before sending him off in the 2-2 stalemate with Australia.
World Cuppers
Current Shillong Lajong striker Cornell Glen played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup
India may not have come close to qualifying for the World Cup since the 1950 edition but several World Cuppers have plied their trade here. Majid Bishkar was the first-ever World Cupper to play in India as the midfielder played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting after being part of Iran’s 1978 World Cup squad. Since then four others have played for Indian clubs with current Shillong Lajong striker Cornell Glen (Trinidad and Tobgao) being the latest. Additionally Nigerian Emeka Ezuego is the only player to have played in the World Cup after plying his trade in India. Emeka played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting before making a substitute appearance for the Super Eagles in the 1994 World Cup.
