Cancer Struggle and Death
Hejazi was diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer in late 2009. While trying to resume normal daily activities as a coach, his illness forced him to be hospitalised. Hejazi went into a coma on 20 May 2011 as he was watching the match between Esteghlal and PAS Hamedan soccer teams in the final week of the Iran Pro League. In 23 May 2011, after being unable to recover from a stroke, he died at 10:55 a.m. in Kasra Hospital in Tehran. His funeral was held on 25 May 2011 in Azadi Stadium in western Tehran and his body was buried in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran on the same day as his final resting place. More than 20,000 people attended his funeral.
Hejazi's popularity went beyond Iran's borders as Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson expressed the club's sympathy for Hejazi's illness in April 2010. In a message, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid homage to Hejazi and characterised him as a renowned and good-tempered Iranian football figure who offered valuable services to national sport.
Mohammed Bin Hammam, President of AFC and Sepp Blatter, President of FIFAboth sent their personal and associations' condolences to his family, the people of Iran and the Iranian football federation.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Larijani, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Carlos Queiroz, Ali Parvin, Parviz Mazloomi, Ali Fathollahzadeh, Mansour Pourheidari, Samad Marfavi, Mansour Ebrahimzadeh, Karim Bagheri, Ali Karimi, Farhad Majidi, Amir Ghalenoi, Ali Kafashian, Afshin Ghotbi, Ali Reza Mansourian, Ali Daei, Hassan Khomeini, Mehran Modiri, Jamshid Mashayekhi and others also condolences to Hejazi's family.
Read more about this topic: Nasser Hejazi
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