Indonesian football was in mourning yesterday after celebrated goalkeeper Choirul Huda died following an on-pitch collision with a teammate. Huda, 38, a long-time regular for his hometown club Persela in East Java, collapsed just before half-time after Sunday’s accidental clash with Brazilian midfielder Ramon Rodrigues.
Video footage showed the father of two clutching his chest in pain before he was rushed away on a stretcher and taken to hospital. Doctors said he stopped breathing and suffered a heart attack. “He received an emergency treatment for a few minutes in the hospital but he could not be saved. He died before 5:00pm yesterday,” Persela’s assistant coach Yuhronur Efendi said.
Doctors said the medical team tried to revive the veteran Huda, a former fringe player in the national set-up, for about an hour. “Choirul Huda suffered from traumatic collision with a teammate which caused him to stop breathing and have cardiac arrest,” Yudistiro Andri Nugroho, a doctor from Lamongan hospital, said in a statement.
Nugroho said Huda suffered possible neck and head trauma from the impact to his chest and lower jaw after he dived at the feet of on-rushing players and was caught by the legs of Rodrigues. Persela paid tribute to Huda, who played for the team more than 500 times since 1999, calling him “The Real Legend” of the club in a posting on Twitter.
Thousands of fans also took to social media in memory of Huda, who had been known to Persela supporters as “One Man, One Club, One Love”.

Nigeria warned about World Cup pay strike
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has warned his players that their performances at next year’s World Cup will be affected if there is any repeat of protests over pay and bonuses. At the last finals in Brazil three years ago, the Super Eagles deliberately missed a training session in protest at the non-payment of a bonus for qualifying.
That forced the country’s then sports minister to charter a private jet and fly to South America with nearly $4mn in cash. Rohr said he is convinced that Nigeria can go beyond the last 16 for the first time by preparing well in advance.
Nigeria were not the only team to be hit by money troubles in 2014: Ghana’s players demanded that more than $3mn in bonuses was flown to Brazil. The revelation was a major embarrassment for the government at the time, which was battling spiralling inflation and the decrease in value of the country’s currency. Nigeria’s women’s team, the Super Falcons, last December staged a protest march to parliament to demand payment of bonuses for winning the African Women Cup of Nations. That followed a two-week sit-in at their Abuja hotel.
The government later agreed to release more than $1mn. The Nigerian men’s team is in line for a $12.5mn bonus from football’s world governing body FIFA for qualifying for the finals in Russia. All 37 players used in qualifying are entitled to a share. Squad members at the finals stand to earn more if they match or better the national side’s performances in 1994 and 2014 by reaching the knock-out stages.

Losers Egypt back in 2018 CHAN
Egypt will compete at the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco, despite being eliminated in the qualifying competition two months ago. The Egyptians lost 4-2 on aggregate to Morocco, who are now automatic competitors in the 16-team event having replaced Kenya as hosts.
This opened the door for Egypt to be reinstated into the biennial tournament restricted to home-based footballers. African football body CAF ditched Kenya as hosts last month for falling behind with preparations and Morocco were chosen to replace them at the weekend.