Former Somali National football squad member Nur Abdi Haji, popularly known as Shaarkey, was laid to rest in Mogadishu on Saturday afternoon after he unexpectedly perished earlier in the day, the Somali football Federation (SFF) announced here.
“He left his home for work in the morning and while on his way to Mogadishu airport where he was working, the former footballer unexpectedly collapsed on the ground and suddenly passed away,” the SFF presidential statement said Saturday. He died of a heart attack.
According to the SFF presidential statement, Shaarkey was a key figure in the Somali National football squad from late in 1970s and 1980s and was well known for his strength and systematic performance during local leagues and national team matches in his era.
“Somali Football Federation is shocked over the death of the great colleague who will be missed by the entire Somali Football family members – on behalf of the Somali Football Federation, I am sending our sympathy to his wife, children and relatives of the late Shaarkey,” Somali Football Federation President Ali Said Guled Rooble said in a press statement Saturday.
Shaarkey was a strong man in the national team and his death marks the missing of a great personality, said president Ali Said Guled Rooble, himself one of the most prominent footballers in the country in the 1970s.
The Book of condolence has been opened at the Somali Football Federation headquarters where friends and football fans have been signing, to offer their condolences since the sad news of the death came to light on Saturday morning.
