Kunal Sawant (born 23 August 1986) is an Indian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

playing in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

for

Kenkre FC Kenkre Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 2000, the club currently competes in the MFA Elite Division of Mumbai Football League. Nicknamed "Mumbaikars", they previously pa ...

Early life

Kunal Sawant was born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India, and attended Don Bosco High School,

Borivali Borivali (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, oːɾiʋəliː is a suburb which is located in the north-western end of Mumbai, India. Traditionally the tribals and East Indians lived in Borivali. The attractions include Sanjay Gandhi National ...

Amateur league

After finishing school, Sawant was selected for Goans Sports Club (a local club in Mumbai, playing in the First Division) and played with them from 2002 until 2003. He was later selected to play with

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, bef ...

U-19 team and had a brief stint playing in the Indian

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. From 2004 until 2009, Sawant played for

New India Assurance The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. (''NIACL'') is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, public sector insurance company owned by the Government of India and administered by the Ministry of Finance (India), Ministry of Finance. Headquart ...

(Super Division),

Dena Bank Dena Bank was a government-owned bank that in 2019 merged with Bank of Baroda. It was headquartered in Mumbai and had 1,874 branches. The bank was founded in 1938 as a privately owned Bank. In 1969 the Government of India nationalized ''Dena Ba ...

(Super Division),

Union Bank of India Union Bank of India (UBI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 153+ million customers and a total business of Rs.22,92,644 crores as of 31 March 2025. After the merging with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, which c ...

(Elite Division) and Central Railway (Elite Division).

Professional league

In 2009,

Bimal Ghosh Bimal Ghosh (born 29 June 1956) is an Indian former footballer and football manager, most notable for his 18-year tenure as the Head Coach of Air India Football Club in Mumbai. He is a recipient of the Dronacharya Award, which is given to tho ...

initiated Sawant into India's professional football circle, to play for

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

's football team. Two years later, on 3 February 2011, Sawant found himself on the receiving end of an injury during a match against

Salgaocar F.C. Salgaocar Football Club (formerly Salgaocar Sporting Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa. Being one of the country's most successful clubs, it is currently operating youth teams. Until the disfunction of its seni ...

, while playing in an

match. Medical professionals advised Sawant that his hand would recover gradually, but his career would never. However, Sawant made a comeback on 28 October 2012 with

Mumbai F.C. Mumbai Football Club was an Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The club predominantly competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Mumbai also participated in Mumbai ...

in the I-League. Sawant also represented

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2012. During 2015 I-League season hiatus, 4 Mumbai F.C. players –

Climax Lawrence Climax Lourenco Lawrence (born 16 January 1979) is a retired Indian professional football midfielder. He last played for FC Bardez in the Goa Professional League in 2017. National team In 2002, he was called to the India national football team ...

(former India captain), Nicholas Rodrigues, Valerian Rebello and Sawant, were invited to play for Tuff Laxmi Prasad Sports Club on a short-term contract in the

Goa Professional League The Goa Football League is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of Goa, organised by the Goa Football Association as part of the state leagues. It was formed in 1951 as the Goa Primeira Divisão or Goa First Division, and ...

Indian Super League (ISL)

In June 2016, Sawant signed a contract with

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian association football, professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in Indi ...

to be the team's goalkeeper for the 2016

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. Kerala Blasters FC finished the tournament by securing the second position. After his playing career, Sawant switched to coaching. He has been involved in goalkeeping coaching for teams in the Indian football circuit, including his role as goalkeeping coach with Kerala Blasters FC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawant, Kunal 1986 births Living people Indian men's footballers Footballers from Mumbai Mumbai FC players Don Bosco schools alumni Men's association football goalkeepers