SFA mourns passing away of Sailen Manna

GANGTOK, 04 March: The Sikkim Football Association convened a condolence meeting here today to mourn the passing away of former Indian Football captain, Sailen Manna (Sailendra Nath Manna ). The meeting observed a 2 minute silence in mark of respect to the departed soul.
The Late Sailen Manna (popularly known as “Manna Da”] passed away in Kolkata at the age of 87.
Delivering the obituary address, the SFA general secretary, Menla Ethenpa, recalled that “Manna Da had a very special affection for Sikkim and while serving the Mohun Bagan Football Secretary, he always gave preference to send Mohun Bagan Club to play in Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup Football Tournament. Accordingly, his club Mohun Bagan lifted Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup 8 times”.
Mr. Ethenpa further informed that like another legendary footballer, Gastho Paul, Manna Da was an indispensable footballer in his playing career from 1942 to 1960. He was the only Asian footballer ever to be named among the 10 best captains in the world by the English FA in 1953. He was awarded the “Footballer of the Millennium” title by All India Football Federation in 2000 and Mohun Bagan Ratna in 2001. He captained Indian Football team in the London Olympics in 1948 and it was under his captainship that India won the Gold Medal in the 1st Asian Games defeating Iran 1-0.