The All India Football Federation is felicitating soccer players who won the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games gold medals for the country. It is a noble gesture. Unfortunately, the AIFF is not even aware if a player it has listed for the purpose is alive or not.
The AIFF’s list has three surviving members of the 1951 team, Ahmed Khan, T. Shanmugham and TM Varghese, popularly called Papen. Ahmed Khan and Shanmugham are very much around but Papen died way back in early 1979. Yet, the AIFF has listed him for the honour. One wonders what prevented the AIFF from honouring the entire team even posthmously, except for the Bangalore duo of Ahmed Khan and Shanmugham.
Thenmaddom Mathew Varghese, or Papen, the outstanding defender in the 1951 Asian Games victory, turned out for Thiruvalla Police and Travancore state before emigrating to Bombay where he played for Tatas. He was part of the 1948 Olympic Games team and starred in India’s 1951 gold medal victory as India defeated Iran through Mewalal’s goal. He died in 1979 after a brief illness.