HYDERABAD: As a centre-back, city footballer
Khadeer Khan
stood out with his performance manning the Telangana state team's defence. Despite being out of the reckoning for the state team now, the 29-year-old still turns up at the ground for practice daily.
But his passion for the game has not helped him land a job despite representing the Telangana team in the
Santosh Trophy National championship from 2014 to 2017.
The Covid-19
pandemic
has only added to Khadeer's misery. The meagre income he was earning as a part-time football instructor at various schools dried up, forcing him to work as a carpenter to make the ends meet.
"I need at least Rs 20,000 per month to meet my expenses as I have to take care of my aged mother, widowed sister and my family. My wife works as a teacher in a local school," Khadeer said.
To add to his woes, three family tragedies left him shattered. Khadeer lost his brother-in-law, father and elder brother within three years. "First it was my brother-in-law Syed Ghouse Mohammed, who died due to cancer in 2017. My father Yusuf Sharif Khan died due to cardiac arrest next year. And in 2019, my elder brother Basheer Khan, who was a
kabaddi player and a bodybuilder, also succumbed to cancer at a young age of 32 years," he said.
Khadeer represented
Bharat Dynamics Limited
(BDL) U-21 team that won the bronze in Faridabad in 2009-10 and Customs and Excise department with the hope of getting a job. But his dream remained unfulfilled. In the professional league, he has represented
Hyderabad Globe FC
and Fateh Hyderabad.
Hyderabad Globe FC owner Syed Sadi was all praise for Khadeer. "He was a consistent player and played for the state and our club as well," he said.
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