Former Syrian team captain tortured to death by Assad regime thugs
Jihad Qassab played as a defender for the national team in the 1990s
The former captain of the Syrian national football team was tortured to death for protesting against the tyrannical regime of President Assad, it has been reported.
Jihad Qassab was arrested alongside engineer Abdel Salaam al-Soufi in the Syrian city of Homs in August 2014 and has not been heard from since.
The father-of-three was one of the country's best-known defenders, playing for national squads from the 1990s. The regime - which non-governmental organisations claim is a major human rights abuser - accused him of making car bombs for the rebels.
Former cellmate Khaled Tellawi told the Times he resisted torture and maintained his innocence.
He added: "He was barbarically tortured, but it didn't appear on his face as they focused on his body, his legs and back, which had blue marks from torture.
"He was forced to give in and confess after days of hitting and being held in a suspended position."
Abu Wissam, a former team-mate at his Homsbased club Al-Karamah SC, said: "Jihad was a poor sweet-hearted man who never hurt anyone.
"He was a superstar in Syria and the best defender ever. I used to play for the under-21s and he trained us. He was a brother to us rather than a captain or a trainer."
The Homs media centre, an activist network, reported on its Facebook page that he had died in custody and the General Authority for Sports and Youth in Syria mourned Qassab’s death on its Facebook page
The post read: "The martyred Al-Karama team captain Jihad Qassab recorded a number of goals which immortalized his name as a soccer star in the Syrian and Arab fields, most prominently against the Jordanian national team in 1998 as part of the 7th Arab Nations Cup."
The body has not yet been released to his family but news of his death has been widely circulated.