Fadil Avdullah Vokrri ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Fadilj Avdulah Vokri, Фадиљ Авдулах Вокри; 23 July 1960 – 9 June 2018) was a yugoslavian football player and administrator of

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 ...

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

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo ( sq, Federata e Futbollit e Kosovës; 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 Associa ...

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

Early life

Born in

Podujevo Podujevo ( sr-Cyrl, Подујево), Podujeva, or Besiana ( sq-definite, Podujevë or ''Besianë''), is a city and municipality in Kosovo's Pristina District. According to the 2011 census, the city of Podujeva has 23,453 inhabitants, while t ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, Vokrri was known for his

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

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

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...

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

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

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 footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Yugoslavia internationally at youth level. Personal life Cana was born in Đakovica, Yugoslavia (modern-day Gjakova, Kos ...

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 2 ...

and

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

, 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 known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

Marakana The Rajko Mitić Stadium ( sr, / , ), previously known as Red Star Stadium ( sr, / ), 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 since ...

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, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

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

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

from

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

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 Win ...

title, and their successful run in the 1988–89 Yugoslav Cup, 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 la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

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 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, t ...

, 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 was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

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,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. On 17 May 2018, he earned his

Albanian passport The Albanian passport (Albanian: ''Pasaporta e Shqipërisë'') is a travel document issued by the Ministry of Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, along with t ...

Death

On 9 June 2018, Vokrri suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

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 ( sq, Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri), previously known as Prishtina City Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi i qytetit të Prishtinës), is a multi-purpose stadium in Prishtina, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ...

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

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

City Cemetery. Kosovo President

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...

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.''

Honours

;Partizan *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

: 1986–87 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

: 1988–89

References

External links

Profile
at

Career history
at

Football Association of Serbia The Football Association of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски савез Србије, ФСС / ) is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia n ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vokrri, Fadil 1960 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Podujevo Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Albanian footballers Kosovan footballers Yugoslav expatriate footballers Kosovan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 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