New Delhi: The 82-years-old former Olympic footballer and ex-national football coach Syed Shahid Hakim passed away in a private hospital in Gulbarga on Sunday.
In his more than five-decade association with Indian football, Hakim, a Dronacharya Awardee, has also been an assistant coach to late PK Banerjee during the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi and also independently has been in charge of the national team during a tournament in Merdeka.
At the domestic level, his finest hour as coach came when he guided Mahindra & Mahindra (now Mahindra United) to the Durand Cup title in 1988, beating a formidable East Bengal team. He has also coached Salgaocar and his last serious coaching assignment was with Bengal Mumbai FC in 2004-05.
He has been a FIFA badge holder international referee having officiated in Asian Club Cup games and was also conferred with the prestigious Dhyan Chand Award.
In his playing days, he was a central midfielder but would always rue the fact that he didn’t get any playing time during the 1960 Rome Olympics where the coach of the team was incidentally his own father the great Syed Abdul Rahim.
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