East Bengal defender Anwar Ali admitted to hospital with heart condition

Former India and current East Bengal central defender Anwar Ali suffered an ischemic attack in the heart and is recovering from the condition in a private hospital.

The defender, who hails from Punjab, complained of pain and uneasiness while returning from practice with colleague and friend Gurwinder Singh on Tuesday. The latter rushed him to the hospital where the doctors performed angiography on the player to determine the damage, informed East Bengal assistant secretary Dr. Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta.

The player is now stable and will be released in a day or two, Dr. Dasgupta added.

“He suffered an ischemic attack in the heart (inferior wall of the heart) is currently under treatment. Doctors performed an angiography to determine the attack and found that it was triggered by a spasm. Doctors have determined that Anwar’s condition will get better with medicines and have ruled out angioplasty,” Dr. Dasgupta said.

The East Bengal assistant secretary, who oversees the medical tests of the players, informed that Anwar Ali did not have any heart condition at the start of the season when the club conducted the mandatory ‘pre-match medical assessment’ test on the players.

“This can happen owing to many conditions and in Anwar’s case that was a sudden occurrence. He was lucky that the spasm did not happen during practice, which could have been much serious,” Dr. Dasgupta said. Anwar Ali, who played the last season for the ISL franchise, Mumbai City FC.

He was signed by East Bengal this year and have made five appearances for the team in the I-League so far.