Pankaj Gupta

Pankaj Gupta
Born(1898-09-10)10 September 1898[1]
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
DiedMarch 6, 1971(1971-03-06) (aged 72)
Occupation(s)sports administrator and journalist
5th President of All India Football Federation
In office
1950–1960
Preceded byMoin-ul-Haq
Succeeded byManindra Nath Dutta Ray

Pankaj Kumar Gupta MBE[2] (10 September 1898 – 6 March 1971) was one of the earliest Indian sports administrators involved in professional football,[3] hockey and cricket. He is best known for his involvement in professional hockey where he worked variously as a manager, administrator, and referee. His contributions earned him the nickname "Mr. Hockey".[4] He also became the first head coach of the India national football team in 1938, and guided the team in the Indian tour of Australia.[5]

  1. ^ Subodh Kumar Sengupta & Anjali Bose (2016). Sansad Bengali Charitabhidhan Vol.I. Sahitya Sansad, Kolkata. p. 381. ISBN 978-81-7955-135-6.
  2. ^ "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 24.
  3. ^ Nasar, S. A. (2020). "SAMAD: FOOTBALL WIZARD OF INDIA". Booksie. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  4. ^ O'Brien, Barry. "All hail hockey on history high". The Telegraph. Eye on Calcutta. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
  5. ^ "1938 Indian Tour of Australia". ozfootball.net. Australian Online Football Museum. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2019.