Chief Minister pays tribute to Amal Dutta

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid her respect to Dutta at Rabindra Sadan and expressed her heartfelt condolence over his death.

Banerjee said that he was a legendary footballer and his death is a great loss. Dutta’s death will create a vacuum in the world of sports.

He had represented the nation in the Asian Games in 1954 held in Manila.After leaving his job with the Railways, he took up the profession of full-time football coaching and is recognised as the first professional football coach of the country.

The state government had honoured him with ‘Krira Guru Samman’ in 2015.After paying tribute to Dutta, the Chief Minister said, “A road and a stadium will be named after him.

I have urged Mayor Sovan Chatterjee to take necessary steps in this regard.”State Agriculture Minister Purnendu Basu, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, Fire and Emergency Services Minister and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, and Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen were also present at Rabindra Sadan.

The funeral procession of Dutta started from his residence at Baguihati and was taken to Ganesh Talkies, where he used to stay earlier.

It was at the Sadan where thousands of people gathered to pay their respects to Dutta, including the Chief Minister, who paid a heartfelt tribute to the iconic footballer.

From Rabindra Sadan, the procession went to East Bengal Club, where leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan paid homage to the iconic football coach.

Dutta used to go around rural areas of the state with a projector to let young children and youth watch video clippings of football skills of world-famous footballers.

Dutta was also taken to Mohun Bagan ground, before the procession finally reached Nimtala crematorium. He was given a gun salute outside the crematorium. 

Football lovers and renowned players, who were trained by him, were present at the crematorium and bid farewell to their favourite coach.

 The footballers said that Dutta will always stay alive in the hearts of the people who love football.