Fadil Vokrri

Fadil Avdullah Vokrri (23 July 1960 – 9 June 2018) was a Kosovan football administrator and formerly Yugoslav player.

Fadil Vokrri
Vokrri with Yugoslavia in 1987
President of Football Federation of Kosovo
In office 16 February 2008[1] – 9 June 2018
Vice President	Agim Ademi Bekim Haxhiu Predrag Jović
Preceded by	Sabri Hashani
Succeeded by	Agim Ademi
Personal details
Born	Fadil Avdullah Vokrri (1960-07-23)23 July 1960 Podujevë, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia (modern Kosovo)
Died	9 June 2018(2018-06-09) (aged 57) Pristina, Kosovo
Nationality	Albanian
Occupation	Footballer Football administrator
Association football career Position(s) Striker Youth career 1976–1979 Llapi Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1980–1986 Prishtina 172 (55) 1986–1989 Partizan 55 (18) 1989–1990 Nîmes 24 (13) 1990–1992 Fenerbahçe 43 (13) 1992–1993 Bourges 30 (10) 1993–1995 Montluçon 39 (12) Total 363 (121) International career 1984–1987 Yugoslavia 12 (6) *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Arguably one of the greatest Kosovan footballers, he was the president of the Football Federation of Kosovo from 16 February 2008^[1] until his death on 9 June 2018.^[2]

Early life

Born in Podujevë, SFR Yugoslavia (modern Kosovo) to ethnic Albanian parents, Vokrri was known for his Diego Maradona-like approach with quick movement and strong shooting (where he established his strong shooting reputation at FC Prishtina).^[3] He won a number of international caps for the former Yugoslavia 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, Edmond Rugova and Fadil Muriqi, as well as other Kosovan players who were part of the Golden Generation in the 1980s. Vokrri's FC Prishtina went on to beat Red Star Belgrade at the Red Star Stadium and record a historic away victory for the Kosovan team.^[4]

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 in 1980 and played there until 1986, scoring 55 goals and making 172 appearances. Vokrri was very successful with Partizan from Belgrade where he scored 18 goals and had 55 appearances.^[5] He was key to both the team claiming the 1986–87 Yugoslav First League title, and their successful run in the 1988–89 Yugoslav Cup, notably scoring in the final as Partizan won 6–1 against Velež Mostar.^[6]

In between the two trophy successes, Italian club Juventus 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.^[7]

He also played for Nîmes Olympique, Fenerbahçe where he played for the successful coach Guus Hiddink. 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.^[3]

Post-retirement

"For me the idol of all time is Johan Cruyff. His philosophy in the football game has laid the foundations of the Barcelona game that plays that way. Barcelona is art, it's a pleasure to see when it plays. There is Messi."

—Fadil Vokrri in an interview for Telegrafi in December 2017^[8]

After the Kosovo War ended, Vokrri returned to his country and became the sporting director of Prishtina.^[5] On 16 February 2008, he was elected as the president of the Football Federation of Kosovo for a four-year mandate.^[1]

Personal life

Vokrri and his wife Edita had two sons, Gramozi and Albert, and a daughter named Albana.^[9] He had a degree in the Faculty of Management and Business.^[5] Apart from his native Albanian, he was also fluent in French, Serbian and Turkish.^[5] On 17 May 2018, he earned his Albanian passport.^[10][11]

Death

Fadil Vokrri Stadium, 2023

On 9 June 2018, Vokrri suffered a heart attack while he was exercising and died on his way to the emergency room.^{[2][12][13][14]} Later that day, the Prishtina City Stadium was renamed to the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in his honor.^[15][16]

Vokrri was given a state funeral on 10 June 2018 and was buried at the Pristina City Cemetery.^[17] President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi 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.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[19]

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		Europe[b]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Prishtina	1980–81	Yugoslav Second League	25	5	0	0	—		25	5
	1981–82		27	13	0	0	—		27	13
	1982–83		32	15	0	0	—		32	15
	1983–84	Yugoslav First League	31	9	0	0	—		31	9
	1984–85		30	8	0	0	—		30	8
	1985–86		27	5	0	0	—		27	5
	Total		172	55	0	0	—		172	55
Partizan	1986–87	Yugoslav First League	28	5	0	0	2	0	30	5
	1987–88		11	6	0	0	2	1	13	7
	1988–89		16	7	1	1	4	2	20	9
	Total		55	18	1	1	8	3	63	21
Nîmes	1989–90	French Division 2	24	13	0	0	—		24	13
Fenerbahçe	1990–91	1.Lig	21	6	2	1	4	2	27	9
	1991–92		22	7	1	0	0	0	23	7
	Total		43	13	3	1	4	2	50	16
Bourges	1992–93	French Division 2	30	10	0	0	—		30	10
Montluçon	1993–94	Championnat National 2	26	11	0	0	—		23	11
	1994–95		13	1	0	0	—		13	1
	Total		39	12	0	0	—		39	12
Career total			363	121	4	2	12	5	379	128

1. Cup appearances are missing
2. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[19][20]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Yugoslavia	1984	3	2
	1985	6	2
	1986	0	0
	1987	3	2
Total		12	6

Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vokrri goal.^[19][20]

List of international goals scored by Fadil Vokrri

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 September 1984	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	1–6	Friendly
2	20 October 1984	Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany	East Germany	2–2	3–2	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	1 February 1985	Maharaja's College Stadium, Kochi, India	South Korea	1–0	3–1	1985 Nehru Cup
4	1 May 1985	Stade Municipal, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	1–0	1–0	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	14 October 1987	Grbavica Stadium, Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia	Northern Ireland	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
6				2–0

Honors

Partizan^[21]

• Yugoslav First League: 1986–87
• Yugoslav Cup: 1988–89