Wydad Athletic Club have suffered a tragedy ahead of their African Football League final against Mamelodi Sundowns, as left-back Oussama Falouh sadly passed away.
Falouh, 24, joined the Moroccan giants from Ligue 1 side Angers in the recent transfer window, but was yet to make an official appearance for his new club.
However, his life was sadly lost on Thursday after he had been in a coma since a serious car accident on 11 October. On Thursday evening, Wydad announced the sad news.
“Ossama Falouh is in God’s memory… With great sadness, the Wydad Athletic Club management office announced the death of the respected player, Oussama Falouh. In this dark hour, Mr. Saïd Naciri, on behalf of himself and all the members of his office, the players, the technical and administrative teams, and all the employees, extends his most sincere and deepest condolences regrets to the family of the deceased, to his loved ones, as well as to all components of the Wydad Athletic Club. He prays to Allah Almighty to cover the deceased with His vast mercy, to welcome him into His vast paradise. To Allah we belong and to Him we return,” read an official statement as translated into English.
It is unclear how and whether the sad passing will affect Sundowns’ AFL final against the Moroccan giants. The first leg of the two-legged final was scheduled for Sunday, 5 November in Casablanca with Sundowns travelling directly from Egypt to Morocco, while the return leg in South Africa was set for 11 November.
So far, the AFL have released a statement, sending their condolences to Wydad and Falouh’s family and friends.
On behalf of everyone at iDiski Times, we would like to express our condolences to Farouh’s family, friends and the wider Moroccan football fraternity.
