PETALING JAYA: The football fraternity was in shock as former Harimau Malaya coach B. Sathinathan passed away on Tuesday (July 18). He was 65.
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Sathianathan was a dedicated coach and had always remained as a person who was daring enough to voice out his opinions for the betterment of the sport.
Always known as a person who took care of his players’ welfare, he had been a strong advocate against racism in football and spoke out against any form of abuse hurled against players and coaches.
Sathianathan began his coaching career in 1992 with Negri Sembilan but is known for his role as the assistant to Claude Le Roy to guide hosts Malaysia at the World Youth Championships in 1997.
He had also coached the National Under-23 squad which he guided to the 2007 Merdeka Tournament victory.
He also coached Harimau Malaya from 2007-2009 and had immense success as the coach of several teams in the Premier and Super Leagues.
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His notable success on the local scene was guiding Kelantan to win the Malaysia Cup in 2010 while he was also at the helm when Armed Forces and Felda United were crowned Premier League champions in 2012 and 2018, respectively.
Sathianathan’s efforts were recognised as he was named “Coach of the Year” in 2010, 2012, and 2017.
His last job as coach was with Sarawak United last year where he had taken a four-month break to receive treatment as he was said to be battling with cancer.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) council member and Fifa media officer Christopher Raj paid tribute to Sathianathan whom he had said was a close friend for decades.
“You have served well and made Malaysian football proud. You fought a good fight, Anna, Rest in Peace,” said Christopher in a social media post.
Caption: Dedicated local coach B. Sathianathan passed away on July 18. – STAR Pic