Syed Shahid Hakim

Some Lesser Known Facts About Syed Shahid Hakim

• Syed Shahid Hakim liked playing football from a young age and took training under his father, Syed Abdul Rahim.

• He later went on to play for India in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

  

• He was a member of the Services team that won the Santosh Trophy in 1960.

• He played for Hyderabad City Police (HCP), winning the Durand Cup in 1961 and the Rovers Cup in 1960 and 1962.

  

• On 10 November 1962, he was commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF). His service number was 6719 LGS, the branch was Orig: EQPT, and the course was 24 GDOC (Ground Duty Officers’ Course).

• On 10 November 1964, he was promoted to Flying Officer and retired from IAF on 30 November 1983 as a Squadron Leader.

• After retiring as a footballer, he became a coach for various clubs including Mahindra and Mahindra, Services team, Salgaocar SC, Hindustan FC, and Bengal Mumbai Club. Mahindra and Mahindra won the Durand Cup in 1998 under his coaching.

  

• He also served as assistant coach (alongside P.K. Banerjee) of the Indian football team for a few years.

  

• Under his coaching, the Indian team reached the quarterfinal of the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

  

• Hakin also served as a FIFA referee and officiated in 33 international matches including the 1988 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar.

  

• He was also a regional director of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Kolkata where his last assignment was as a project director for scouting before the Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017.

  

• He also worked as a football commentator in various football tournaments.

  

• Hakim also served as the sports consultant cum advisor of the Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for four years.

  

• He was the chairperson of the football council of the School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF) for a few years.

  

• He also served as Secretary of the Airforce Sports Control Board and Dean of the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala.

  

• In 2020, he contracted the COVID-19 virus. He could not get a bed in a government hospital and quarantined himself in Amruta Castle Hotel in Hyderabad where he paid Rs 12,000 per day.

• He expressed regret that no government organisation helped him, and even Ajay Devgn and Boney Kapoor did not help him who were making a film on his father.

• On 22 August 2021, he suffered a cardiac arrest around 8 am and passed away at 8:30 am in Gulbarga, Karnataka. Two days before his death, he was discharged from a hospital after treatment for a stroke.

  

• In April 2024, a Bollywood film ‘Maidaan’ was released which featured Ajay Devgn as Syed Abdul Rahim, the coach of the Indian football team which qualified for the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics. Devyansh Tripathi and Rishab Joshi portrayed Hakim in the film.