Football fan Pannalal Chatterjee, who attended 10 World Cups, no more

Pannalal Chatterjee, the ardent football fan who along with his wife attended 10 editions of the FIFA World Cup, has passed away at the age of 86. He breathed his last on Tuesday morning in Kothari hospital in Kolkata.

Pannalal, or ‘Pannu da’ as he was fondly called, and his wife Chaitali made a vow to attend the football World Cup every four years after watching their first live match in 1982 in Spain. The couple were in London with a friend who convinced them to go to Spain to watch the football extravaganza, and since then there has been no turning back.

In an interview to a leading daily, the former Kolkata Port Trust employee had said that he and his wife were amazed by the atmosphere and football frenzy during their first World Cup match. “We vowed to travel to every World Cup thereafter. So far we have managed to keep our promise,” Pannalal had said. The couple also made it a point to carry the tricolour to every World Cup.

Pannalal and Chaitali went on to travel to many countries in the next four decades to attend the football World Cup and managed to click pictures with legends like Pele and Diego Maradona. Their favourite memory from a World Cup is witnessing Maradona's Hand of God in the quarterfinal match of the 1986 edition between Argentina and England.

“Watching the ‘Hand of God’ occurring right before my eyes, well, how can you expect anything else to top that memory,” 78-year-old Chaitali had told PTI before leaving for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

His death was mourned by many football followers on social media. The official Twitter account of the I-League posted that Indian football will miss Pannalal. “#IndianFootball will miss Pannalal Chatterjee, one of the most ardent football fans across. Rest in peace,” read the tweet.

Pannalal had recently suffered a fall in the washroom, as per reports. He was also down with fever since the previous week. He was unable to move and was admitted to the Kothari hospital on Thursday.