GUWAHATI: In a sad moment for the refereeing fraternity, Veteran football referee from Assam Utpal Kumar Bhattacharjee passed away in Mumbai on Saturday.
He was 88 years old at the time of his death and he leaves behind his wife and two daughters. Bhattacharjee happened to be a former national referee and was employed at NF Railway.
He was also associated with the Referee Board of the Assam Football Association for a long period of time. Guwahati Referee Association, of which he was the founder member, condoled the death of Bhattacharjee.
Meanwhile, earlier last year, Sachindralal Bhuyan (Kanu), one of the most prominent football referees of the state, sports journalist, sports organizer and sports pensioner passed away following a massive cardiac arrest.
He was 68 years old at the time of his death and is survived by one daughter and close relatives.
Bhuyan, a certified AFA Referee was closely associated with Dibrugarh District Sports Association from the last three decades. He had served the DDSA as secretary and as joint secretary for Referee board.
Bhuyan was sports journalist and sports columnist for several leading daily newspapers of the state.
His death was widely condoled by sports organizations like DDSA, Milan Jyoti Sangha, Jeoti Moral Sangha, District Football Referee Association, the sports associations affiliated to DDSA, leading sports personalities of the district and the journalist fraternity of the district as well as the state.
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