Sunday August 20, 2017
An Executive Committee member of the Somali Football Federation (SFF), Osman Jama Diraa, has died after being shot unidentified gunmen on Thursday, 17 August 2017, in the capital, Mogadishu.
Diraa, who doubles as chairman of the SFF Referees Committee was shot as he left a mosque near his home in the capital.
“It was a very shocking experience to learn of the death of or beloved colleague. The reason for the brutal killing of our colleague is yet unclear, but investigations are under way,” SFF president Said Arab Abdiqani said in a statement.
A former referee, Diraa served on the SFF Executive Committee member since 2010. He has since been buried.
He becomes the second high profile football official to be killed in the past five years, after former SFF president, Mahmoud Nur, who died during a suicide explosion in April 2012.
Meanwhile, the SFF has suspended all football activities for seven days in honour of Diraa.