One more legend walks into the sunset. It was an emotional night for arguably, India’s best footballer ever Sunil Chhetri. The match ended in a goalless draw, but for Indian fans, the result was secondary. The great man couldn’t control his tears and along with him cried millions of football fans.
The day was a long time coming, but when was the question? In the early hours of May 16, 2024, Chhetri posted a video on his official X channel, with the caption – ‘I’d like to say something…’
Many would have guessed it right, but even then, there were several, others, who didn’t want to hear it. At 39 years of age, and having represented India in 151 matches, Sunil Chhetri decided to hang his boots. Here’s the video.
After Chhetri announced that the June 6th game against Kuwait, a FIFA World Cup qualifier, would be his last international appearance for the Blue Tigers, the support was unbelievable one. The match played at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal had 58,000 supporters just to cheer for Chhetri.
Even, some of the greats couldn’t help themselves but salute the champion footballer.
Is Chhetri, the richest Indian footballer?
Emotion-wise, yes, but if one talks about the net worth, then Sunil Chhetri isn’t the richest footballer in India. As per the latest report, Chhetri’s net worth is around USD 1.5 million (Rs 12.30 Crore). However, the richest footballer in India is Gouramangi Singh Moirangthem, with a reported net worth of USD 5 million (Rs 41 Crore).
Singh is a former professional footballer who represented India in 71 matches between 2006 and 2013. He currently serves as an assistant coach of the ISL club Goa, having called time on his playing days in 2019.
Talking of Chhetri, his major source of earnings comes from the ISL, where he plays for Bengaluru FC. He earns close to Rs 10 Lakh per match, and his expected earnings for a year, comes close to Rs 1 Crore.
Chhetri is ahead of Singh in terms of goal-scoring for the Blues but trails when it comes to net worth. Even his teammate and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has a net worth of Rs 30 Crore. This is nearly 2.5 times Chhetri’s net worth.
Former men’s football team skipper Baichung Bhutia has a net worth of Rs 5 Crore, again better than Chhetri.
It seems like post-retirement, Chhetri has a lot more catching to do and score big off the pitch to even come close to his ex-teammates bank balance and net worth.
