MO SALAH has led tributes after team-mate Ahmed Refaat tragically died today.
Refaat, 31, died in the early hours of Saturday morning after suffering a heart attack according to local reports.
Refaat played seven times for the Egypt national team between 2013 and 2022, scoring two goals during that time.
The player had previously sparked concern after collapsing during a game against Al-Ittihad Alexandria in a game in the Egyptian Premier League in March.
The player was rushed to hospital and placed in intensive care after his heart reportedly stopped beating for more than an hour.
He was subsequently fitted with a pace maker and released.
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Refaat was a winger who played for Egyptian side Modern Future FC.
Liverpool star and Egypt captain Mohamed Salah has led tributes to his former team-mate.
He posted on X saying: “Survival is for God, and may God give patience to his family and all his loved ones.”
Refaat’s club Modern Future FC released a statement confirming the player’s death on their website.
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The club wrote: “O you who are confident, return to your Lord satisfied and ill, and enter into My servants and enter My Paradise.
“With great patience, sadness and more faith in Allah’s will and destiny, Modern Sport Club announces the death of Ahmed Refaat, the first team player of the Egyptian national team, following a severe deterioration in his health condition.
“He was transferred to the hospital, then to Allah, after a difficult journey of struggle following the health crisis that happened to him on March 11, 2024.”
The Egyptian FA paid tribute as they said their players and staff “mourn Ahmed Refaat, the player of the national team and Modern Sport Club, praying to God Almighty to have mercy on him and inspire his family and relatives with patience and solace. To God we belong and to Him we shall return.”
Refaat previously played for ENPPI SC, Al Ittihad Alexandria, Zamalek and Al Masry in Egypt, as well as for Al Wahda in the UAE.
He was a member of the Egypt side that won the African U-20 Championship in 2013, before lifting the Egyptian Super Cup with Zamalek in 2017 and the Egyptian League Cup with Modern Future in 2022.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
