February 20 Damascus shuddered from two loud explosions. They thundered in the Baramka area, not far from the center. Terrorists fired from a mortar sports complex "Tishrin". One of the shells fell on the stadium, where at that time the players were training, another hit the hotel for athletes.
The next day was supposed to be a match between the teams of Al-Wasba from Homs and Al-Navair from Hama. The stadium was training team Al-Wasba. In translation, this name means "jump." No one else knew that for one of the team members one of the jumps would be the last.
And the training was interrupted by a deafening explosion. Killed one of the athletes, Yousef Suleiman. Three more were injured. In addition to football players, several employees of the administration of the sports complex "Tishrin" were injured.
The Syrian Sports Federation and the Syrian Olympic Committee have sharply condemned this barbaric crime against sports, against the people of the country, against the prestige of Syria. They called on all international sports organizations to join their protest voices against the barbaric crimes of gangsters and those who support them from abroad.
Chairman of the Sports Federation Mofak Djuma said that Syrian athletes are heroes who hold the flag of the Motherland in international sports competitions and achieve achievements for the good of their country. And no terrorist threats can force athletes to stop seeking new records.
“The vocation of the criminals is murder, injustice and savagery, while the vocation of sport is peace and good,” said a statement from the Syrian Federation of Sport.
Many comrades of the deceased football player wondered: how could his murder, the murder of other athletes, serve the good of “freedom and democracy”, for which the rebels allegedly fight? On the contrary, it is medieval savagery. In addition, such a murder is a blatant violation of all principles of honor and peace established since the very beginning of the Olympic Games. But are savages up to the Olympic principles?
Yousef Suleiman is not the first sportsman killed by terrorists. Let me remind you that 12 January of this year killed the champion in race walking Hisham Ar-Raksha. The athlete, who made great efforts to achieve this title for his homeland, who trained by walking on the roof of the house, which was training a new, young shift, was shot dead by terrorists in his own car when he returned home from training.
Earlier, terrorists killed the Syrian basketball team striker Basel Raya. His “fault” was only in the fact that he, giving a television interview, spoke in support of the legitimate president and the Syrian army. After that, he already knew that he had been put on the “black list” of militants and ordered his mother not to cry if something happened to him ...
In March, 2012, in the city of Aleppo, on the square in front of the University, boxer Giyas Teyfur was killed. He was a multiple champion of Syria and Asia in boxing. Bandits shot an athlete in broad daylight in his own car.
And now the young footballer Yousef Suleiman fell victim to the ruthless criminals. He was born in 1986 year in the city of Homs. Before joining the Al-Wasba team, he played in the Al-Karam team (Dignity). He left a wife and daughter.
Three years ago, Yousef Suleiman took part in the Asian Championship. The match took place in the city of Homs. Then the Syrian footballers failed to win this championship, but President Bashar Al-Assad himself came to support fellow football players, which caused great enthusiasm among all the fans and citizens.
In the team of "Al-Karama", where the fallen football player had previously played, is the goalkeeper Mosaab Balhus. This athlete first participated in anti-government demonstrations. Then he understood what the development of events was going on, he understood that this is not "democracy" at all. And he returned to the national flag of the homeland and showed himself well during the last West Asian Championship at the end of last year, when the Syrian team won. The football players who won the cup were received by the president and congratulated on an important achievement. Now Mosab is also forced to take security measures, as the rebels blacklisted him.
These pseudo-revolutionaries do not need Syria's records, they need a humiliated country, kneeling before the West and the monarchies of the Gulf. But athletes of Syria again go to the gym to glorify their homeland.
PS While this article was being written, a major terrorist attack took place in Damascus on Revolution Street, in the city center. The bomb exploded around the school. Dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded among civilians, including children. The explosion blew out the windows in the Russian Embassy building.
In addition, law enforcement agencies detained a car with a terrorist. He found 5 explosive devices weighing every 300 kg.