22-year-old fatally shot after soccer game remembered as devoted family member, volunteer and skilled player

Posted on July 21, 2024 by Peggy

Dozens of mourners came together Saturday to remember a young soccer player who was killed after an evening of matches last weekend at a south end Winnipeg facility.

Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi was shot in the parking lot of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex on Waverley Street July 13 and later died in hospital. A memorial service was held there Saturday where people spoke about his talents on and off the field before participants in the Canada African Cup of Nations returned to action in Abdullahi’s honour.

“He was a good friend and he was a good brother…he was not violent like what happened to him,” said Abdullahi’s friend and teammate in the Manitoba Major Soccer League, Jean-Paul Murhabazi. “It’s a tragedy and he’s a good kid.”

“I don’t know if I would call him a kid or a man, [on] the field he’s a brother, off the field he’s a brother,” he said.

Abdullahi was born in Somalia in 2002 and his parents fled civil war there to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, Murhabazi told the crowd as he read a biography of his friend’s life during the memorial.

In 2014, Abdullahi and his family moved to Canada where the 22-year-old eventually graduated from Gordon Bell High School. Murhabazi said off the field, Abdullahi had a passion for mechanics, which he pursued after high school.

He was also devoted to his parents and sisters and loved to run marathons, he said.

A man stands in a front of a camera — Jean-Paul Murhabazi said Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi was like a brother to him. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC )

Murhabazi also hailed his friend’s volunteer work coaching young children in the sport, telling the crowd he had just organized a weeks’ long soccer program for Somali children.

On the evening of his death Abdullahi had dinner with his father around 4 p.m. and told him he was going to a soccer game.

“That was the last time that they embraced,” Murhabazi told the crowd.

The crowd also heard from Kadar Ahmed, president of Masjid Bilal known as the Winnipeg Islamic Centre, who said Abdullahi’s mother and some immediate relatives recently went to visit Somalia. When Abdullahi’s mother found out her son died, she was so stricken with grief she couldn’t fly home for his funeral, he said.

Calls for unity in wake of slaying

There were also calls for unity and safety Saturday in the wake of Abdullahi’s killing.

African Communities of Manitoba board member Rene Tondji-Simen told the crowd that on behalf of the organization “we are really depressed, the sorrow is deep.”

“We also say we’re determined to fight against violence, no matter the perpetrator and no matter the target,” he said. “What matters is to fight against violence, it’s not a way of solving anything. Please learn that and keep that in your mind.”

It was a message echoed by Manitoba’s Health Minister and Deputy Premier, Uzoma Asagwara, who is also a member of Winnipeg’s African community.

“My ask today is that when we leave here, that we think about what we need to do as one community,” said Asagwara. “So that if someone is on the precipice of making a bad choice, that they have just enough love and they feel just enough a part of community that they stop.”

‘This cannot die because of this,’ community member says

Abdullahi was shot while exiting through the parking lot after a busy night at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex as part of the sixth-ever Canada African Cup of Nations soccer tournament.

Police believe the shooting was a targeted attack and haven’t said what the shooter’s motive was, but said the incident wasn’t related to the tournament. No arrests have been announced in connection with the incident.

On Saturday afternoon, Tondji-Simen commended those who showed up to support the tournament as it moved forward, while acknowledging some might have been afraid or worried about being there.

“We really say to the organizers that we appreciate the way they took it,” he said. “If you did stop, we would have understood.”

“This cannot die because of this,” he said. “It should really mobilize us more.”

The organization’s board decided to move forward with the remaining matches in Abdullahi’s honour after consulting with his family and community members.

“The best way we can honour our friend, our player, our brother in the community, is to continue to play the game that he loved the most,” said tournament president Gode Katembo.

People lower their heads. — A moment of silence was held before the first match Saturday night. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

Abdullahi’s number 13 Team Eritrea jersey will be retired, signed by community members, then framed and given to his family, Katembo said.

“This is a program, it’s a competition, that brings all communities together,” said Katembo. “That creates that safe space where youth can be a part of a greater community.”

Meanwhile, Murhabazi hopes to see justice for his friend.

“The more we punish people that are doing such a thing, the more the violence is going to decrease,” he said. “I really hope that justice can be served.”