Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri (born 2 April 1997) is a Dutch former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He operated primarily as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, but could also be deployed as a winger. A youth product of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, Nouri played two years of senior football with its reserve team and the first team. He also represented the Netherlands at various youth levels. In July 2017, at age 20, during a pre-season friendly match, Nouri collapsed and suffered a

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

attack, which left him with severe and permanent brain damage and unable to continue his career as a footballer.

Early life

Nouri was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and is of Moroccan descent. A promising youth player, he was named as one of the best 40 youth players in the world by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2014, before he made his professional debut.

Club career

Nouri was a youth exponent from the academy at

, and made his professional debut for the reserve side,

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

, on 13 March 2015, in an

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

game against

VVV Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

, replacing Danny Bakker after 78 minutes in a 1–0 loss. On 21 September 2016, Nouri made his official first-team debut in a

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

match against Willem II, and scored a goal. His exploits throughout the season for Jong Ajax saw him being gifted the Player of the Season award for the 2016–17 season, as well as promotion to the first team for the 2017–18 season.

Collapse

On 8 July 2017, Nouri collapsed during a friendly match against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

, due to

. He was taken to the hospital by a trauma helicopter, and his condition was announced as stable. Five days later, however, Ajax reported that Nouri had suffered severe and permanent brain damage as a direct result of the incident, and was in intensive care. Nouri eventually left intensive care on 25 July 2017, being able to breathe unaided, but not be able to play football again. In June 2018, Ajax announced an investigation had found that the medical treatment Nouri received on the field was "inadequate", which prompted a lawsuit from Nouri's family against Ajax through the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

's arbitration panel, who stated a failure to resuscitate him with due haste was responsible for causing his brain damage. By August 2018, Nouri was no longer in a coma. By September 2019, Nouri was confirmed to still be in hospital. On 27 March 2020, Nouri's family confirmed he had awoken from his coma and returned home to his family, where he will continue to receive treatment. Shortly afterwards, Ajax announced they cancelled Nouri's contract, which was due to automatically renew on 1 July, and that they were in talks with his family about a "future solution" for Nouri. In February 2022, Ajax announced the agreement with Nouri's family included a payment of €7.85 million, that the club would cover all his medical bills, and would retire his number 34 jersey. In April 2024, Nouri's brother, Abderrahim, stated that he was "awake" but still "isn't his old self."

Tributes

Following Nouri's retirement, several tributes were conducted in his honour in and outside football. In December 2018, Ajax renamed their "Talent of the Future" award after Nouri, while a number of Nouri's former club and international teammates, including Justin Kluivert, Philippe Sandler, Amin Younes,

Donny van de Beek Donny van de Beek (; born 18 April 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Girona. In youth international football, Van de Beek made more than 40 appearances for the Netherlands from under-17 to ...

, Kevin Diks, Joël Veltman,

Anwar El Ghazi Anwar El Ghazi (; born 3 May 1995) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger or a Inside forward (association football), forward for club Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City. Club ...

Steven Bergwijn Steven Charles Bergwijn (born 8 October 1997) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Winger, left winger or a Forward (association football)#Inside forward, forward for Saudi Pro Le ...

, Sofyan Amrabat, and Chadi Riad adopted Nouri's shirt number (34) at their new clubs. Ajax's 34th league championship was dedicated to Nouri by the players, who celebrated with his father during the trophy presentation in May 2019. On 12 June 2022, a square in

Amsterdam Nieuw-West Amsterdam Nieuw-West () is a Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Urban districts of the Netherlands, stadsdeel'') comprising the westernmost neighbourhoods of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was created in 2010 after a m ...

was renamed the "A. Nouri Plein".

Honours

Ajax *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: runner-up 2016–17 Individual * Best player of AEGON Future Cup: 2014 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016 *

Player of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nouri, Abdelhak 1997 births Living people Dutch sportspeople of Moroccan descent Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Netherlands men's youth international footballers People with hypoxic and ischemic brain injuries 21st-century Dutch sportsmen