A young futsal player from Mysuru, who was aspiring to make it big in the sport in international leagues, has had a tragic death in Italy.
Yashwanth Kumar, who was pursuing Masters in Marketing at the Rome Business School, died on August 6, said his father N. Kumar, a resident of N.R. Mohalla.
Mr. Kumar, who is into handicrafts business, said his son was very passionate about futsal and therefore chose Italy so that he could pursue higher education and the game, besides playing in futsal leagues. He had gone to Rome four months ago. “We became anxious when he became inaccessible on the phone. We contacted his friends and others known to him. On Friday, we got the heartbreaking news that Yashwanth’s body had been found. We were told that Yashwanth is assumed to have slipped into a body of water and drowned. The Italian authorities are looking into the case and more details are awaited. The autopsy is expected on Wednesday,” said Mr. Kumar.
The last rites are expected to be held in the next two days as the body is unlikely to be shifted to India. “We are unable to go there to bring the body. His friends and members of an association of Kannadigas told us they would conduct the final rites in view of the current situation,” he added.
A mechanical engineer, Yashwanth had played for the Indian futsal team and was selected in the Italian Serie B National Championships for the 2020 season to play for the Rhibo Fossano team. He had played for the national team a few years ago in Barcelona and Sri Lanka. Futsal is an indoor football game.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper had rubbed shoulders with legendary international football players while playing in the Premier Futsal League in India in the Kerala team. Yashwanth was picked for the Italian team based on his performance in the league matches. He was training in a local futsal circuit here.
