Sports journalist Lenin Gani dies

Senior sports journalist and Sports Editor of bdnews24.com's English edition Lenin Gani has died at his London residence. He was 45.

Gani breathed his last at his residence in northwest London’s suburban town North Harrow on Thursday afternoon London time, his younger brother Jasim Gani announced in Lenin’s Facebook status.

Gani is survived by his wife, their only daughter, parents, three brothers and a host of relatives, friends and well-wishers.

His daughter Aafreen Alzena Gani told bdnews24.com by telephone from London that her father had long been suffering from hypertension and lung complications. He was taking medical advice for a lung transplant.

Gani was given first aid and the ambulance was called after he was suddenly taken ill at around 4:30pm but he died before the ambulance arrived. Doctors at a hospital in North Hyde Park declared him dead when he was taken there.

Gani’s wife Santhia Pervez came to Bangladesh from London in the second week of this month after her father died. She started for London on Friday afternoon.

She told reporters at the Shahjalal International Airport, “We can’t imagine he will be leaving us at this time all of a sudden.”

He was to be laid to rest at the Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery in Watford, she said. But the schedules and location of his namaj-e-janaza were yet to be decided.

The news of his untimely death left his current and past colleagues and those who knew him in utter shock and sadness.

bdnews24.com in a statement on Friday said: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend Lenin Gani, who will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this most difficult time.”

A die-hard Liverpool Football Club fan, he was born on Dec 9, 1967 in Sylhet with physical disability. He keenly followed football – his passion – since childhood and had considerable knowledge of the game. He developed expertise in cricket, tennis and golf reporting as well.

Gani studied in Maple Leaf International School, Dhaka and later at London’s Whitmore.

He taught economics at O-level at Maple Leaf International School for several years before he took to journalism.

He began his career with now defunct The Morning Sun. He joined The Daily Star in 1992 as a sub-editor and continued before joining The New Age in 2006 where he worked as the Sports Editor until 2008. He left the paper in August that year and moved to London for better medical treatment. He joined Bangladesh’s first internet newspaper, bdnews24.com, in 2010.

He worked at The Daily Sun for a few months before finally settling for bdnews24.com in July 2011.

Lenin Gani won the best sports reporter award by the Dhaka Reporters Unity in 2001.

Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association, Bangladesh Sports Press Association, Bangladesh Sports Journalists Community, Bangladesh Football Federation, Bangladesh Cricket Board have condoled his death.

Gani was a senior member of BSJA.