Fadil Avdullah Vokrri (23 July 1960 – 9 June 2018) was a Kosovan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

administrator and formerly Yugoslav

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. Arguably one of the greatest Kosovan footballers, he was the president of the

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...

from 16 February 2008 until his death on 9 June 2018.

Early life

Born in

Podujevë Podujevë or Besianë ( sq-definite, Podujeva or ''Besiana'') or Podujevo is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality in the District of Pristina, Pristina District in Kosovo. Podujevë is the largest municip ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(modern

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

) to

ethnic Albanian The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

parents, Vokrri was known for his

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

-like approach with quick movement and strong shooting (where he established his strong shooting reputation at

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina (, ), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Pristina, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. It is the most successful domestic club. History The club was founded ...

). He won a number of international caps for the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in the mid-1980s and was unlucky to not win more caps where he was one of Yugoslavia's favourite football talents. He played in a star-studded lineup that included

Agim Cana Agim Cana (born 29 September 1956) is a Kosovan former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Yugoslavia national football team, Yugoslavia internationally at youth level. Personal life Cana w ...

Edmond Rugova Edmond Rugova (born 20 July 1957) is a Yugoslavian football coach and former football player. Rugova formerly coached the Kosovo national football team, a post he held since his appointment by the Football Federation of Kosovo in the summer of 20 ...

and

Fadil Muriqi Fadil Muriqi (Serbo-Croatian: Fadilj Murići / Фадиљ Мурићи; born 17 November 1959) is a former Yugoslav footballer of Kosovar Albanian descent who is best known for his time with Prishtina during the 1980s as part of the "Golden Ge ...

, as well as other Kosovan players who were part of the Golden Generation in the 1980s. Vokrri's

went on to beat

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

at the

Red Star Stadium The Rajko Mitić Stadium (, ), previously known as Stadion Crvene zvezde (), also known as Marakana ( sr-Cyrl, Маракана), is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia which has been the home ground of Red Star Belgrade, Crvena zvezda sinc ...

and record a historic away victory for the Kosovan team.

Club career

Vokrri scored a total of 121 goals and had 363 club appearances, he began his career at the age of 16 years old at Llapi. He then moved to

Prishtina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

in 1980 and played there until 1986, scoring 55 goals and making 172 appearances. Vokrri was very successful with Partizan from

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

where he scored 18 goals and had 55 appearances. He was key to both the team claiming the

1986–87 Yugoslav First League The 1986–87 Yugoslav First League title was awarded to FK Partizan, as the 6 points deduction that originally made Vardar Skopje champions, was declared invalid. League table Standing before the court annulled point deductions: Results W ...

title, and their successful run in the

1988–89 Yugoslav Cup The 1988–89 Yugoslav Cup was the 41st season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. Calendar First round ...

, notably scoring in the final as Partizan won 6–1 against Velež Mostar. In between the two trophy successes, Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

showed interest in signing Vokrri. However, as he had not completed the then-compulsory two years' military service, he was unable to travel abroad, and so had to turn down the offer. He eventually completed the requirements for military service while playing for Partizan, fulfilling light tasks during the week around training and in between matches. He also played for

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 12 April 1937 and currently plays in the Championnat National, the third tier of French football. The Sta ...

, Fenerbahçe where he played for the successful coach

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

. Vokrri was a favourite of Fenerbahçe fans but was not as productive as he was with FC Prishtina and Partizan because of his older age.

Post-retirement

After the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

ended, Vokrri returned to his country and became the sporting director of Prishtina. On 16 February 2008, he was elected as the president of the

for a four-year mandate.

Personal life

Vokrri and his wife Edita had two sons, Gramozi and Albert, and a daughter named Albana. He had a degree in the Faculty of Management and Business. Apart from his native

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

, he was also fluent in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. On 17 May 2018, he earned his

Albanian passport The Albanian passport () is a travel document issued by the Ministry of the Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, alongside national identity cards (). The pa ...

Death

On 9 June 2018, Vokrri suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while he was exercising and died on his way to the emergency room. Later that day, the Prishtina City Stadium was renamed to the

Fadil Vokrri Stadium The Fadil Vokrri Stadium (), previously known as Pristina City Stadium (), is a multi-purpose stadium in Pristina, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FC Prishtina and the Kosovo national football team. The ...

in his honor. Vokrri was given a state funeral on 10 June 2018 and was buried at the

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

City Cemetery.

President of Kosovo The President of Kosovo (; ), officially the President of the Republic of Kosovo (; ), is the head of state of Kosovo. The president is elected indirectly by the parliament through a secret ballot, requiring a two-thirds majority of deputies in ...

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovo Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the Foreign minister and deputy pri ...

marked the day as a national day of mourning, with all flags lowered at half mast across Kosovo, and at embassies all over the world.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vokrri goal.''

Honors

Partizan *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

: 1986–87 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1988–89

References

External links

Profile
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vokrri, Fadil 1960 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Podujevë Footballers from the District of Pristina Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Albanian men's footballers Kosovan men's footballers Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in France Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Men's association football forwards Yugoslav First League players FC Prishtina players FK Partizan players Ligue 2 players Nîmes Olympique players Süper Lig players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Bourges 18 players Montluçon Football players 20th-century Albanian sportsmen