Champions League - Arsenal fan hangs himself

Eurosport - Wed, 06 May 15:38:00 2009

An Arsenal fan in football-mad Kenya hanged himself wearing his beloved team's shirt after their defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Champions League Arsenal fans at the Emirates - 0

Like elsewhere across Africa, Kenyans pack bars for Premier League and Champions League matches, especially those involving Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Suleiman Omondi, 29, was found hanged at his home in a middle-class Nairobi estate shortly after leaving distraught from the pub where he had watched Arsenal lose 3-1 in their Champions League semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday.

"He took some drinks and broke down in tears within the final minutes of the match," a fellow bar patron, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Police said they were called to Omondi's house on Wednesday morning. "What we are gathering is this suicide is related to the Arsenal and Manchester match," local Embakasi area police chief David Bunei said.

Bar attendants said they had to intervene after Omondi lunged at a man who suggested Arsenal would not recover from conceding two early goals. They also lost the first leg 1-0.

Brawls are common in Kenya during football matches and there have been other related suicides reported in the past.

Reuters

Comment 632 - 651 of 691

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. This is a very sad example of how a lot of people take­ football too seriously. My thought goes out to the­ parents and family of this young man. Football is just­ a game watched for entertainment. Football like any­ other sport should be just an occassional diversion of­ pleasure to break up the sometimes mundane routine of­ life. We shouldn't allow it to consume ourt lives,­ as a lot allow it to. I have supported Liverpool from­ the age of 10 years and as I grew up felt quite­ strongly about things when they would lose or win, but­ as I got older I realised that I let my admiration of­ a"football team" influsnece too significantly­ my state of happiness. From then I still hoped they­ would do well but when they did or didn't I­ didn't let it worry me too much. It's also sad­ when you see people verbally and/or physically abusing­ others just because they support another team. Such­ people have lost all perspective. The association of­ alcohol with sport is a blight on sport and different­ cultures. It causes people to lose all sense of­ judgement and rationale and certainly was a factor in­ this sad case, and is a factor in violence and abuse­ that does go on in relation to sporting events like­ football. It will be a great day for sport when alcohol­ is banned form sporting events and from its­ sponsorship. It should have no place in sport.

    From marklbelluk, on Thu 7 May 7:32PM

  2. this is very sad incident,is just a football game boy,­ you don't have to take your own life. Anyway i hope­ arsenal management give a least one minute silent for­ the poor soul in their next match as a sign of respect­ to this supporter.may his poor soul rest in perfect­ paece..... from yemmy....... Gunner for life

    From Adeyemi A, on Thu 7 May 7:03PM

  3. Very sad, even if he did support the scum, just not­ worth it - no suicide is

    From ispurs, on Thu 7 May 6:57PM

  4. this is terrile ,may his soul rest in perfect peace.to­ all football fans pls dont 2 emotional to what is not­ .this is an entertainment for God sake .my people take­ it easy. funto lpaye manchester united fan.(nigeria)

    From fun4real2008, on Thu 7 May 6:56PM

  5. What does it mean to be the greatest Arsenal fan? When­ they lose hang yourself? It's stupidity and madness­ of the highest order especially when we have lots of­ problems like poverty in Africa to worry about.­ Problems are inescapable but misery is optional.­ Arsenal players still got their weekly £40-100k pay,­ went out to enjoy themselves after the game e.g­ Bendetner drunk his pants down last night yet S.Omondi ­ will not get a minute silence at the Emirates next­ Sunday.
    The greatest fan is one who controls his­ emotion's when the going gets tough. Ayub Qbile.

    From Darlienst, on Thu 7 May 6:34PM

  6. may is soul rest in perfect peace. but he should nt­ have dome that

    From omotayo, on Thu 7 May 6:23PM

  7. Omanidi's death is a terrible thing. However, as­ fans let's not go in all the way as we support­ these teams because no team is "loss proof".­ All teams are prone to loosing and so if you are that­ involved you amy go to such extremes. May his soul rest­ in peace. Man u will wallop Barcelona and add up to a­ catalogue of broken records...

    From david, on Thu 7 May 5:47PM

  8. Barcelona will win baby with Puyol and Henry coming­ back and Hleb on the support.

    From victoradeyemi, on Thu 7 May 5:44PM

  9. i think manchester united will win in the finall but­ barcelona is good i hope manchester united will win

    From farhiya h, on Thu 7 May 4:52PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    how do they know that the kenya man suicide because­ arsenal lose to man utd......he's already died and­ how can the dead body tellls the police

    From SaMiR NaSRi, on Thu 7 May 4:35PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    should arsene wenger be held responsible for this?

    From HITMAN, on Thu 7 May 4:18PM

  12. I don't think this is a case of "football­ causes suicide". This young man clearly has other­ issues in his life that have led to depression, low­ self esteem and a need to take his own life. Just­ another example of media hype tarting up a story to get­ a few bucks.

    From Eyes Wide Open, on Thu 7 May 3:53PM

  13. may the Almigthy give him a rest, is a sad story
    we­ wlov arsenal we will bee for life gunners for lfe

    From TeenageDollBrat, on Thu 7 May 3:26PM

  14. Faithful Gunners for Life. may he find peace.. ­ Arsenal forever

    From buddyfar, on Thu 7 May 3:18PM

  15. Honestly Arsenal is going to make the fans get­ ulcers!!! 4 SEASONS 4 PEOPLE WHO WERE USED TO­ SILVERWARE IS REALLY HARD TO ADJUST!!!
    Am waiting to­ see if the AFC management will have something to say­ about the dead fan.Gunner for Life!

    From alex, on Thu 7 May 3:14PM

  16. As a Man United supporter I give my prayers to Suleiman­ Omondi and his family. It is a very sad incident but to­ some people football is more than just a sport. It is­ next to religion and people sometimes can be very­ fanatical. Posts over this blog sometimes can be very­ emotionally testing and I hope all fans of any football­ clubs realise this. Some people can take it some­ can't and we cannot blame them. I hope Arsenal have­ it in their hearts to give at least a minute of silence­ to this fan of theirs in Africa.

    From cokrowinoto, on Thu 7 May 2:45PM

  17. This is just WAY TOO FAR. Anyone who treats a football­ game with such importance is completely missing the­ point - it is entertainment, nothing more. Very good­ entertainment but entertainment nonetheless. The man­ must have had some kind of mental instability. Oh and­ by the way, less of the racist comments please -­ football teams make a lot of effort to remove bigotry­ from the game. Where you come from, your religion or­ your race have nothing to do with how you appreciate­ the game of football. I'm a white guy by the way.

    From dlewisemp, on Thu 7 May 2:37PM

  18. this is to all fans of football its very sad for us as­ fans to cheer up for a team then u r a die hard fan of­ that team then it looses but i appeal to all fans just­ be a fan its very sad for u to take ur life away­ because somebody somewhere or team has failed u we need­ to know that those footballer doesnt know us they know­ us as fans ronaldo or fabregas nor ronney or nasri­ doesnt know us . they just earn themselves money while­ us as fans we loose our lives and we fight each­ other.we need to take care its just football and its­ for leisure and fan football was meant to bring us­ together or to unite us together but not to fight and­ to take our lives away.let us celebrate our teams­ mindfully as supporters have fantastic day all fans

    From Nicodemus, on Thu 7 May 1:09PM

  19. Occurred after the Arsenal match brawl in Kuwait, using­ sharp tools and the reason for dissatisfaction with the­ loss

    From Moaath, on Thu 7 May 12:56PM

  20. Perhaps it wasn't just the game that caused him to­ commit suicide. Maybe he was already suffering from­ some problems and Arsenal's lost served as the­ spark which lit the fire. People CAN get emotional over­ Soccer, lets not deny that.

    Whatever it is, the­ management of AFC might want to say something about the­ issue or at least have a 1-minute moment of silence­ during our next match to pay our last respects to our­ ONE-OF-A-KIND type of fan.

    Win or Lose, I'm a­ Gunner for life!

    From jabronibeater, on Thu 7 May 12:48PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account