Hospital reports confirm Benitez died of heart failure

Mexico’s club America fans mourning after a mass in Mexico City for the death of Ecuador international striker Christian Benitez.  The Ecuadorian star died in Qatar on Monday of heart failure at the age of 27. He played 58 times for Ecuador and joined his Qatari Club El Jaish from Mexico’s America, with whom he won the Mexican Clausura championship in May as their leading scorer with a tally of 30 in the 2012-13 season.

Christian Benitez: a private aircraft will transfer his body to Ecuador this morning  after a brief ceremony at the VIP Lounge of the Doha International Airport.

By Anil John/Sports Editor

Ecuador player Christian “Chucho” Benitez died of a heart attack, his Qatari club El-Jaish confirmed yesterday, as authorities prepared to repatriate his body to his country in South America.

El Jaish said in a statement that a private aircraft will transfer his body to Ecuador this morning  after a brief ceremony at the VIP Lounge of the Doha International Airport.

 “The official medical reports... (received by El-Jaish) stated that the sudden death was caused by heart failure,” said a club statement.

“(The club) will transfer the body of the late player to Ecuador immediately after finishing all legal procedures which are applied in the State of Qatar,” it said.

“The family and wife of the late Benitez will also be transferred to attend the funeral ceremony,” it said, adding that “farewell and transfer of the body will be at the highest level that meets the late player’s name and reputation”.

Benitez complained of stomach pain after El Jaish’s Sheikh Jassim Cup match on Sunday night (the match was a 9.45pm kickoff because of Ramadan) and was immediately rushed to the Al Ahli Hospital where he died on Monday morning.

The Ecuadorian, who was the top scorer in the Mexican league last season with Club America, had signed for El Jaish just three weeks ago. El Jaish, one of Qatar’s top clubs, were banking on the forward to help them win the Qatar Stars League for the first time this season before tragedy struck on Monday morning.

A member of the Ecuador side which qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Benitez was a key player in the country’s current team hoping to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

El Jaish said the club would bear all expenses of transferring the body from Doha by private aircraft.

 “Since Ecuadorian star Benitez passed away on Monday morning in a sudden way, sadness and sorrow prevailed over the club especially that he had joined El Jaish only a few days ago,” the El Jaish statement said, adding: “El Jaish Sports Club management assures again its endless support to Christian’s family and are standing by their side during this hard time.”

The club will organise a ceremony to honour the player at the VIP lounge of the airport and also at the Al Khor Stadium today during the team’s match against Al Shahaniya in the Sheikh Jassim Cup.

Meanwhile, his family, friends and fans in Ecuador, Mexico and England (he had a brief stint with English Premier League side Birmingham City), continued to mourn his passing.

A special church service was held in Mexico City where hundreds of Club America fans wept while remembering the striker who was one of the star performers for the team last season.

Meanwhile, Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) president Luis Chiriboga Acosta has paid his respects to Benitez, calling him an “extraordinary human being”.

“This morning we woke feeling profound pain, a pain that all Ecuadorians share, after losing an extraordinary human being, a son, friend, husband and player,” Acosta said in a statement on the FEF’s official website a day after Benitez’s death. Page 32