Baidyabati (West Bengal): Some may call it stupidity, and others may call it unnecessary splurging. But for him, it is love and passion for sports. It is this passion which has driven him to attend six cricket and football world cups along with an Olympic in different parts of the world since 1998. The upcoming football World Cup in Qatar is next on his list.
Meet Pankaj Ghosh, a football coach hailing from the Baidyabati town of West Bengal's Hooghly district. He has attended football and cricket world cups across the globe and now at the age of 71 has taken a loan of Rs 5 lakh to attend the football World Cup in Qatar, his next destination for a mega sports event after visiting Brazil, Mexico and London.
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It all started in 1998 when Ghosh earned a meagre salary of Rs 2600. With that salary, no bank wanted to give him any loan. But Ghosh is not someone who will get disheartened by such obstacles. He turned to his friends and took a loan of Rs 80,000 from them to attend his first football World Cup.
He repaid the loan after returning to India. Having a knack for sports since childhood Pankaj late took training to work as a football coach and started working for the Football Federation. Currently working as a coach for a local football club Ghosh said " my sports journey started in 1998. I have attended European Champions League. Bought a ticket worth Rs 2.13 lakh for attending Wimbledon. I had to take loans for it and am currently repaying them."
After the Qatar World Cup, he is keen on attending the Mexico World Cup in 2030. "It's impossible to stop Pankaj Sir," said one of his students.
