Santosh Trophy: Dad dies, Rizwan leaves the match midway

Rizwan Ali was the chief orchestrator of Kerala’s moves in their final group game against Mizoram in the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship at Kozhikode on Sunday. Despite dominating the midfield along with Hrishi Dhath and setting up Kerala's opening goal, Rizwan was surprisingly substituted in the 63rd minute.
The move from Kerala coach PB Ramesh raised eyebrows.Only when the game ended it became clear that the move was not a tactical one. The team management was informed during the course of the game that that Rizwan’s father Muhammed Ali VP had died, and the coach decided to call back his in-form player. A sobbing Rizwan headed home even before the final whistle was blown.
As the match was progressing in Kozhikode, Rizwan’s dad, Muhammed Ali had suffered a heart attack at his home in Valvakkad near Elambachi in Kasaragod district and passed away soon after. He was 60.
When he was included in the squad for the Santosh trophy qualifiers, Rizwan had mentioned that more than him, it was his dad who wanted to see him play in Kerala colours in the tournament.
As a 16-year-old, Rizwan was the youngest player to be part of Kerala's Santosh Trophy camp in 2013 breaking IM Vijayan’s record. But he was not included in the main squad.
The 26-year-old made his Santosh Trophy debut playing for West Bengal. The FC Areekode player was also a part of the Kerala National Games squad last year. But when Kerala qualified for the main round of the Santosh Trophy beating Mizoram, Muhammed Ali was not there to see his son realising his dream.