SPORTS REPORTER

Ibrahim Nesar, a former FIFA referee and deputy chairman of the Referees’ committee of Bangladesh Football Federation, passed away at a hospital in Dhaka in the early hours of Monday.

Nesar had been in life support at the hospital for the last few days after battling with cancer for five years.

He was 62. Nesar left behind a son, a daughter and a host of well-wishers to mourn his death.

Azad Rahman, the chairman of the Referees’ Committee, informed that the late referee was laid to rest at the Faridabad Graveyard in Gendaria in the afternoon after his first namaz-e-janaza was held at the BFF premises and a second one in front of his house in Gendaria.

Nesar had started his refereeing career in 1987 and hung up his whistle in 2007. He had officiated in international matches from 1999 to 2004. He was appointed as a member of the Referees’ Committee, where he had been working as a deputy chairman till his demise. He had also worked as a match commissioner of the BFF.