People in Goa bade a tearful  farewell  to
the  Brazilian born striker Cristiano Junior, who  collapsed  and
died during a football game last week in Bangalore.

Hundreds  of football lovers and his fellow players attended  the
funeral  procession  of Dempo FC striker Cristiano  Junior  whose
body would be flown to Brazil, his homeland.

Body   of  the  Brazilian-born  player  was  taken   home   after
controversy  over the cause of his death. A post-mortem said  the
player, who comes from Minas Gerais state in Brazil, had died  of
a  cardiac  arrest, but he was struck on the face  by  the  rival
goalkeeper  and  his  club and wife  Juliano  demanded  a  second
autopsy.

On  Sunday,  the state government had rejected a request  of  the
family  members  of Junior demanding a second post-mortem  as  he
fell  unconscious seconds after being struck in the face  by  the
rival goalkeeper while scoring a goal.

A yet another report from Bangalore said Junior suffered no other
visible internal or external injuries.

The  All-India Football Federation was heavily criticised  for  a
delay  in  taking the player to the hospital. Anthony,  a  former
football  player,  remembered Junior as a great  player  who  had
worked  hard to get his team status of national champion. "I  saw
the entire game, he was playing so well. Last time also he played
so well in the national league match. He only got East Bengal  as
the national champions. This time he was going to play for  Dempo
we were all very happy but now are saddened at such an incident,"
said Anthony, a former football player.

Cristiano  scored  both goals to help Dempo  FC  beat  Calcutta's
Mohun Bagan in the Federation Cup final. But, a huge  controversy
has erupted over the collision with goalkeeper Subrata Pal.

The Federation has suspended referee SM Balu, blaming him for not
promptly  calling  an  ambulance and not  taking  action  against
goalkeeper  Subrata  Pal.  Pal  has  been  suspended  pending   a
disciplinary hearing for his foul on Cristiano. (ANI)