Former Iraqi star Ahmed Radhi passed away on Sunday morning at 56 years of age.
Iraq is mourning the death of the most prominent footballer who has died as a result of the Coronavirus.
After dealing with the virus quite briefly and within eight days of being first hospitalized, Radhi has passed away in a Baghdad hospital.
The sad news has caught the entire Middle Eastern football community, as well as world football, unprepared. Videos of fans crying in streets of Baghdad emphasized the levels of grief and shock.
1986 World Cup Scorer
Radhi, was an outstanding player, that if he were called Radhinino, he probably would have enjoyed a much broader consensus for his greatness. Besides, he is the player who scored Iraq's only World Cup goal.
Iraq qualified for its only World Cup in 1986, in the shadow of a violent and corrupting influence from Uday Hussein, Saddam's son, while he was in charge of football in the country.
Radhi's goal did not help Iraq beat Belgium or gain any points. Still, it did help, years later, to focus and investigate the problematic phenomenon that ran riot in Iraqi football back then: the methods used by Hussein as the chairman of the Football Association.
Uday Hussein and the Black Era
Threat, torture and abuse of players were part of the arsenal of the man who ruled football in Mesopotamia. A few of the stories are horrific. Hussein was obsessive with Radhi, and has disturbed the player's professional progress several times.
Hussein wanted Radhi to play for the team he was in charge of, Al-Rasheeda. When Radhi refused, Hussein arranged the player's kidnap, later torturing him according to reports, until Radhi agreed.
Radhi, somehow, managed to return to his beloved team al-Zawraa, one of Baghdad biggest clubs. Hussein also prevented Radhi from going abroad and playing professionally outside the Middle East, although there were a few offers on him from Europe and South America in the late 1980s.
The Lion of Mesopotamia
In total, Radhi played for the Iraqi national team 121 times and scored 64 goals for the Lions of Mesopotamia. He was Asian Player of the Year in 1988 and was included in the top ten Asian players of the 20th century. Baghdad is devastated from his death, and accusations against the treatment he received are already up in the air.
Radhi was a gifted footballer who was a symbol of endurance and courage, in the years of Saddam Hussein. He left this world among the greatest Arab footballers ever.
احمد راضي الله يرحمه, إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون.
