He died of joy. The Farscore guard tells Masrawy about the death scenes of M.

02:52 pm

Wednesday 07 October 2020

I wrote – Menna Omar:

“He died of joy and we finished the game for him.” With those words, Faraskur goalkeeper Ahmed Salama opened his talk about the death of his coach Akram Hafila, who died on the pitch.

Yesterday Tuesday, Faraskour and Al Rawda met in competition to advance to the third division, and the match ended in Faraskour’s favor, 2-1.

Before the end of the first half of the match, Faraskour scored the first goal for Rami Basal, then Mohamed Aweidah reinforced his team’s lead, scoring the second goal.

The players were overwhelmed with joy, and some approached the coach (Hafila) to hug him in gratitude for his effort and work with the team, but that joy did not last long, since moments later the coach fell to the ground unconscious, turning the stadium in a mass of silence.

“We continue the game because of him” … Salama goalkeeper said to “Masrawy” in a tone full of sadness.

He added: “After scoring the second goal in the 37th minute, Hafeela returned to the bench, and then went to one of the players to give him some advice before he fell unconscious to the ground.”

He continued: “We did not know at the time that he was dead. We looked for the ambulance and did not find it. One of the players from the other team (the kindergarten) tried to wake him up with first aid, but to no avail.”

He continued: “We picked him up and took him out of the stadium, and the patrol took him to Ras El Bar Hospital.”

He continued: “The match referee (Mohamed Adel) offered us to cancel the match and consider the team retired, but we insisted on completing the match (because of the captain).”

When asked why the ambulance was not present, he said: “This is none of our business. Our club and the kindergarten club shared the money allocated to bring the referees, the stadium and the ambulance, and it was paid to the Damietta region “.

He concluded: “If there was an ambulance inside, we would have followed him.”

On the other hand, “Masrawy” contacted Hani Matar, president of Damietta, to inquire about the incident and how the ambulance was absent from the stadium.

Matar said: “When the stadium and the date of the match were determined, the security and ambulance personnel notified us that we were at the specified location.”

He continued: “We have ensured that the presence of the ambulance is within the competence of the party officials, and there is nothing in the law to prevent the game from taking place if the ambulance is not present.”

He continued: “It is customary for the referee to start the game as scheduled, and to refer in his report to the fact that the ambulance is not present.”

He concluded: “The negligence is not ours, as the district chief who informed the ambulance, but not attending to it is not our concern.”