East Bengal defender Anwar Ali suffers heart attack, declared stable after tests at hospital

THE DAY IS turning out to be a bad one indeed for Indian football fans.

Hours after news emerged that prominent goalkeeper Subrata Pal had tested positive for a banned substance, another terrible news emerged: that East Bengal defender Anwar Ali has suffered a heart attack.

Anwar, a 32 year old veteran who has been playing top division football since 2009 and represented the Indian national team 16 times, has made 5 appearances for East Bengal this season. This morning, he practiced with the team as usual. But on his way back in the car, he felt severe pain in his chest. He was immediately rushed to the hospial where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

His friends, family and people at the club spent some tense hours as doctors conducted tests. It was confirmed that he had suffered a heart attack, but thankfully tests showed nothing further wrong with him, and his life was not in danger.

Anwar has since been taken out of ICU but he remains at the hospital. It is unclear whether he will return to the pitch before the domestic season gets over next month.

This is yet another unfortunate accident that befell East Bengal. Just a few days ago, newly appointed head coach Mridul Banerjee suffered an injury that forced him out of action on his very first day at the club.