Former India goalkeeper Prasanta Dora, who also played for the big three clubs of Kolkata football, passed away on Tuesday after losing the battle with ‘Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis’, a rare blood disease.
Prasanta was 45 and is survived by wife and a son.
The whole football fraternity of the city came together to help out the ailing footballer, who developed the condition sometime in November, according to his family.
Prasanta’s problem was diagnosed late and his condition became critical earlier in the month when he was shifted to Tata Medical Centre, that specialises in cancer treatment, informed his elder brother and his predecessor in the national team, Hemanta Dora.
Prasanta made his national debut in 1999 against Thailand in the Olympic qualifiers.
He donned the national colours again in tournaments like SAFF Cup and SAF Games and earned a total of five international caps.
Representing top clubs
Prasanta also represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy. After turning out for clubs like Tollygunge Agragami and Calcutta Port Trust, the big break came in 1999 when he joined East Bengal.
In later years he played with the other city giants Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting.
He took to coaching youngsters after his retirement.
