Former international football players will play a charity match to help the family of Radhakrishnan Dhanarajan, who died of a sudden cardiac arrest on December 29 last year.
Dhanarajan, a former Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammedan Sporting professional died while playing in an All India Sevens tournament at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district of Kerala.
The match, scheduled to take place on February 19 at the Mohammedan Sporting ground in Kolkata, has been orgsed by Arnab Mondal, Mehtab Hossain, Rahim Nabi, Denson Devadas and several other members of Player's Forum, along with Indian Football Association (IFA) and Income Tax Recreation Club.
Former Indian captain Arnab Mondal said a football-loving crowd of Bengal will never forget Dhanarajan.
Obviously, we can't get Dhanarajan back to his family. But, this is what we can do from our end. He played in the Kolkata Maidan for long and the football-loving crowd of Bengal will never forget him. It's the time to show your support for him, for football," the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) official website quoted Mondal as saying on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata, where the charity match was officially announced.
In the same event, IFA Pesident Jaydeep Mukherjee unveiled the two team jerseys for the charity match.
"It's a joint venture by the Indian Football Association, Income Tax Recreation Club and Players Forum. Dhanarajan had also represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy. It's our responsibility to stand by his family in this tough period. The entire ticket sales as well as the sponsored amount, whatever we can put together, will be forwarded to his family," Mukherjee said.
Previously, Gokulam Kerala FC have donated INR 5.6 lakh, the entire ticket sales from their I-League match against Churchill Brothers FC Goa on January 26 to the late footballer's family.
National Team skipper Sunil Chhetri, Amrinder Singh, Sandesh Jhingan and living legend IM Vijayan had bought a bulk number of tickets to serve the cause.
Normal tickets will be priced INR 50/- and there will be a special guest card worth of INR 500/- which will be available at the Mohammedan Sporting ground, IFA office from Thursday.
In order to reach out to more fans, IFA have plans to put more outlets over the next few days.
( With inputs from ANI )