The much-awaited debut of Anwar Ali in the Indian Super League may finally happen as SC East Bengal are in advanced talks to acquire his service, IFTWC can confirm.
Anwar shot into limelight after his free-kick against Argentina u-20 team gave India a historic victory. At the same time, Anwar was on loan to Indian Arrows from Mumbai City FC. He was also called up to the Indian National Team in 2019, but the subsequent series of events have been unfortunate.
A congenital heart condition was detected in Anwar and he was barred from competitive football by the AIFF. Mumbai City FC parted ways with the centre-back and when Anwar was signed by Mohammedan SC for the I-League second division, the AIFF stopped the club from playing him.
However, the Delhi High Court allowed Anwar to continue playing until the AIFF reached a final decision. After that, Anwar has represented Techtro Swades United in the Himachal Pradesh State League and Minerva Academy in the Punjab Super League 2. In the latter, Anwar scored 4 goals and kept 3 clean-sheets in 4 matches.
Coming in support of the player, leading UK-based cardiologist Dr Sanjay Sharma had said that most individuals with HCM have a good prognosis with an “annual mortality ranging from 0.4-0.8 percent. “Anwar does not have any obvious risk factors such as a family history of sudden death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, syncope, severe left ventricular hypertrophy or exercise induced arrhythmias or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia on the Holter monitor,” Sharma said.
Source- Hindustan Times
The former are currently leading the race to sign the talented defender. Gokulam Kerala FC, who ply their trade in the I-League, were also interested in the youngster almost two months back.
SC East Bengal have looked to revamp their Indian contingent after a dismal start to the ISL. Defense has been one of the biggest worries for Robbie Fowler as he has been forced to play with inexperienced and out-of-position Indian players in his team. The signing of Anwar Ali can make matters much better for them as the quality of the player is undoubted.
While AIFF’s clearance on the same still in ambiguity, it is yet to be seen what the future holds for Anwar Ali.