A former Egyptian football player and sports commentator, Abdel Rahim Mohamed, reportedly suffered a heart attack and tragically died after his national team’s loss in the FIFA 2018 World Cup match against Saudi Arabia.

The former coach of Cairo’s Zamalek Sporting Club apparently suffered an emotional heartbreak and felt sick on Monday evening after witnessing his team’s 2-1 defeat in the 95th minute of Egypt’s match against Saudi Arabia in Volgograd, according to local media reports. He is said to have suffered a heart attack just before he was scheduled to deliver commentary on his team’s Group A performance on the Nile Sports channel, according to Russia Today.

In an effort to save his life, colleagues first brought him to a medical care department on the seventh floor of the Egyptian state television building, Maspero.

Mohamed was then rushed to the French Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, where the doctors tried to resuscitate him for over half an hour. Despite efforts by the medical staff, the former Zamalek FC star passed away from a cardiac arrest, Ahmad Taha, the head of the hospital, told reporters.

Ahmed Fawzi, a former goalkeeper who was in the studio at the time of the fatal episode, noted that his colleague looked “exhausted” and deeply “affected” by the Egypt team’s third defeat and elimination from the tournament. The funeral for the former coach is scheduled for Tuesday at the Hamdia El-Shazlia Mosque in Cairo.

Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passes away due to heart disease.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died in hospital in Tehran where he was taken after suffering a heart attack on Sunday, state media reported.

State-run Press TV said Rafsanjani, 82, died despite efforts by doctors to save him.

Residents said a crowd gathered outside the hospital where Rafsanjani was taken in the Tajrish neighbourhood in northern Tehran.

Rafsanjani was an influential figure in Iran, and headed the Expediency Council, a body which is intended to resolve disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council. He was also a member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that selects the supreme leader, Iran’s most powerful figure.

Rafsanjani has been described as “a pillar of the Islamic revolution.” His pragmatic policies – economic liberalization, better relations with the West and empowering Iran’s elected bodies – appealed to many Iranians but was despised by hardliners.

His death is a big blow to moderates and reformists, depriving them of their most influential supporter in the Islamic establishment.

Since 2009 he and his family have faced criticism over their support for the opposition movement which lost that year’s disputed election to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams and Stephen Powell)

Egyptian football commentator dies of heart attack after watching his team’s defeat

Breaking: Former Iran president Rafsanjani dies of heart attack-state media