Mumbai, Nov 29 (IANS): Veteran sports journalist S. K. Sham passed away here Monday. He was 71 and is survived by his wife.

Sham, a former president of the Mumbai Press Club, was a sportsman himself and later served as a prolific sports journalist for over four decades.

"Sham was one of the founding members of the Press Club, Mumbai. He served the club with dedication through the years," said Gurbir Singh, president of Mumbai Press Club.

"He was also president of the Sports Journalists Association of India," he added

Sham was a footballer, playing on the wings in younger days in school and college. He joined Mumbai-based Free Press Journal in the 1950s, under the then sports editor, Late Ron Hendricks.

In his career as a sports journalist, spanning more than 50 years, Sham covered cricket World Cups, Test matches, India's cricket tour of Australia in 1985-86, the Asian Games in Delhi in 1982 and the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988.

He wrote a popular column 'Point Blank', which advocated betterment of sports.

Sham later became the paper's sports editor and held the post for several years before shifting base to Hyderabad to head the sports desk of News Time.

He returned to Mumbai after a three-year stint to become the sports editor of the newly launched Indian Post. He shifted to the Observer in late 1980s.

He was an active freelance sports writer and wrote columns and articles for several newspapers.