Sathyan's story

KANNUR: Former India football captain V.P. Sathyan checked successfully many sharp and surging forwards. But when it came to real life, he could not fightpoverty and committed suicide to the surprise of many of his admirers. A careerthat began in 1985, and during which he helped bring many laurels to thecountry, lasted a decade. On Tuesday and Wednesday, friends and formerteammates arrived in large numbers at his home in Tellicherry, Kannur district,in a state of shock. Suicide was the last thing they expected from Sathyan, astrong defender, who was a thorn to many forwards on the field. Sathyan, 42,committed suicide Tuesday by jumping in front of the Kanyakumari-Chennai Expressnear Pallavaram on the outskirts of Chennai.The police found two notes from hispocket. The first said he was ending his life due to financial problems,aggravated by his gambling and drinking habits. The second one requested themedia not to play up his death. His sudden demise has left the country'sfootball fraternity in shock. "I first saw this boy way back in 1980 when heused to come to the Kannur police grounds and practice alone daily. This was aregular feature for a long time," said K. Kunhiraman, a resident of Kannur whoused to train youths at the same ground.Sathyan, the son of a policeman inTellicherry, was fascinated by football as a teenager. Sathyan's journey intothe world of football began at the age of 17 when he played his first match forLucky Star Kannur, a local club, after which there was no looking back.He movedfrom the Kannur district team to the Kerala Police team in 1983, a year after itwas formed. The next step was the Kerala team and Sathyan was part of thewinning Santosh Trophy team on two occasions. The crowning glory came when hewore the captain's armband for India.Sathyan led the Indian team in the 1986Merdeka Tournament, scoring the crucial goal to help beat Korea 4-3. He was alsomember of the team that took part in the Seoul Asian Games in 1986 and SouthAsian Federation Games in 1989. He played at the senior level for 12 years.While with Mohun Bagan club, he was awarded the All India Football Federation(AIFF) Player of the Year award in 1995. After resigning from the post ofdeputy superintendent of police in Kerala, he joined the Indian Bank at Chennaiand played for them. Later, he became an assistant manager and its footballcoach. Sathyan was coach of the Indian Bank team since 2002 and the teamqualified for the National Football League in 2002 and 2003. He was also memberof the AIFF selection committee in 2002-03. Reacting to the demise, former AIFFsecretary P.P. Lakshman said the footballer had called him up not very long backto discuss certain things."At that point of time, I felt he wanted to discussaspects of football and now I think he wanted to discuss something completelydifferent. No doubt he is one of the greatest footballers from Kerala," saidLakhsman. Sathyan's body was received at Palakkad early Wednesday by a largenumber of his fans. Enroute to Tellicherry, the body would be placed atMalappuram and Kozhikode districts for people to pay their last respects. Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Sathyan would be given a statefuneral. His hometown Tellicherry is all geared up to give a fitting funerallater Wednesday and bid a tearful adieu to one of its favourite sons. Sathyanis survived by his mother, wife and daughter.