Footballer dies while playing in Bangalore

As his father watched horror-stricken, D Venkatesh died during a game in the Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) first division on Wednesday. He was 27. Amoy Ghoshal reports. Other on-pitch deaths in India

As his father watched horror-stricken, D Venkatesh died during a game in the Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) first division on Wednesday. He was 27.

HT Image

According to an official at the hospital where Venkatesh was taken, pending a post-mortem, cardiac arrest is the possible cause of death. A striker with Bangalore Mars, Venkatesh collapsed in the 87th minute of the game against SW Railway at the Bangalore Football Stadium after coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute.

R Dhanaraj Venkatesh, the player's father, told HT over phone from Bangalore that there was no ambulance at the stadium. Venkatesh's father said he and the player's teammates took him in an autorickshaw to the nearest hospital where he was declared dead.

"There was absolutely no medical arrangement inside the stadium. This is absolutely disgraceful from the Karnataka state association. Last year, a player with (I-League) team HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) died and if the facilities don't change, we will see more such incidents in this state," said R Dhanaraj Venkatesh.

He was referring to the death of goalkeeper Arun Kumar who also died after a cardiac arrest in April 2011.

An official at Hosmat Hospital, Bangalore, said over the phone: "He (Venkatesh) collapsed while playing around 3:30pm and was brought here at 3:50 pm. He came here unconscious and we couldn't record his pulse rate or blood pressure. We tried everything with our cardiologist also doing his bit. We declared him dead at 5pm. It is likely he died after a sudden cardiac arrest but the exact cause can only be known after post-mortem."

A R Khaleel, president of the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA), said there was an ambulance outside the stadium.