Diego Maradona pays repects to late Sheikh Rashid

'He was a sports expert and highly cultivated,' said the Argentine football legend. 'I wished we could have worked together'.

Diego Maradona, the former Al Wasl coach and Dubai sports ambassador, said Sheikh Rashid had a passion for football. Satish Kumar / The National

Football legend Diego Maradona has paid his respects to the late Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed, a man whose words were filled with “simplicity, humility, and great love”.

Sheikh Rashid was the eldest son of the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

“I met the late Sheikh Rashid at the Dubai World Cup and we spoke about a range of sporting issues,” Maradona said.

“I realised at the time that he was a sports expert and highly cultivated. At the time, I was Al Wasl’s coach.”

Maradona said the two shared a passion for football, Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister paper of The National reported.

“He told me that he had admired me from an early age and he loved my game. He even discussed details of matches I had played a long time ago with the Argentinean team.

“The late Sheikh Rashid asked me if we could play together in a friendly match sometime. And, because I loved him so much, I gave him one of my jerseys with the number 10,” Maradona said.

Sheikh Rashid, who was a keen and successful international horseman, winning two gold medals at the 2006 Doha Asian Olympics in the 120-kilometre Endurance Individual Team Mixed events, was a well-known figure in sports.

He was also, Maradona said, enthusiastic about football.

“He once asked me to create a training programme for him so we could train together. He was very enthusiastic about matches and training. I would ask about him regularly.

“I knew he was a first-class athlete and I was impressed with him. I wished we could have worked together. I was deeply shocked to hear about his passing,” he said.

Sheikh Rashid died of a heart attack on Saturday morning and was laid to rest later that evening in Umm Hurair Cemetery. He was 33.