Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar is a former India football captain, B-License football coach, and multi-sport athlete with a remarkable career spanning national and international competitions. She represented India in numerous test series, including Thailand (1975–76) and Sweden (1976–77), played against Everton XI in 1977–78, and toured Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. She led India in multiple Asian Cups, achieving runners-up in the 2nd Asian Cup (1979, Calicut) and third place as captain in the 3rd Asian Cup (1981, Hong Kong), and participated in the 4th Asian Cup (1983, Bangkok). She captained the Indian Women’s Team at the Women’s World Cup in China (1981–82) and was part of the Ibutin Suharto Cup (1986, Jakarta) runners-up team, while being selected for the Asian All-Star Team in 1983. As a coach, Kuntala has served internationally as Chief Coach for the U-17 Women’s Asian Championship (2005), as well as in the AFC U-19 Championship, AFC Senior Qualifiers, and as Assistant Coach at the Asian Games (1998). She holds AFC ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ Licenses, a German ‘B’ License, and serves as an AIFF ‘D’ License Instructor. At the club and state level, she has coached Indian Railways, Mohun Bagan, NPC, Income Tax, and other teams to multiple championships. Beyond football, she excelled as a national-level handball player and captained her state basketball team in 1987. Her outstanding contributions have been recognized with the Banglar Gourab Award (2014) and the West Bengal Government Sports Award (1978).
