Sport: Vanuatu football mourn death of former international

Transcript

The Vanuatu football community is mourning the death of former international Selwyn Sese at the age of 29.

The Spirit 08 defender was a part of the Vanuatu team that took part in the last Oceania Nations Cup and previously played for local club champions Amicale FC.
 
Vanuatu team manager Harry Attison told Vinnie Wylie the men's national team dedicated Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Fiji in Port Vila to their former team-mate.

HARRY ATTISON: Before the game yesterday we have learned he past away before last night. One of the strikers from Vanuatu who scored against Fiji in the first game 1-1, Kensi Tangis, is his cousin so he didn't want to play yesterday but 15 minutes before the game we asked Kensi Tangis if he can play because we have to dedicate the game against Fiji to his late cousin. Then just about ten minutes before kick-off he decided to put his jersey on. It was a sad day for us but we dedicated the game and the win to late Selwyn Sese, who is a former Vanuatu national defender and also he played for Amicale FC in maybe three Champions League competitions in Oceania.

VINNIE WYLIE: And he was most recently playing for the Spirit 08 team?

HA: That's right. He recently played for the Spirit 08 and he went to New Zealand to work for about seven months with the scheme, the apple picking, and he came back and sadly he died before last night. He committed suicide and he died so it isn't a good story for Vanuatu football but we have given him the one minute silence and we dedicated the win yesterday to him.

VW: In difficult circumstances [it was] great that the team could get the win against a good Fiji team - obviously after the draw at the weekend and also they had Roy Krishna coming back and he scored a goal - so a good win for Vanuatu on a tough day?

HA: That's right but I think Vanuatu played good football. They controlled the game well, they kept the ball. It's a big rivalry for Vanuatu football - we respect Fiji because Fiji want to come to Vanuatu to play. Last Saturday was a good game - we should have won. This game was a good one - they play the same football, our boys play the same football. They respect [Fiji coach] Frank Farina, who is one of the famous and popular coaches in Oceania and also with the coming up of Roy Krishna: Roy Krishna makes our boys really prepare well because we all know how he played for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. When he arrived yesterday at the stadium the fans went to see Roy Krishna and our defenders really worked hard just to keep Roy Krishna out of the penalty box. I must say that our defenders, who play for Solomon Warriors Brian Kaltack and also the other one who came back from Cambodia, they were superb for the full 90 minutes yesterday.

VW: Harry, in terms of Selwyn is there any funeral date determined yet and is there anything else that Vanuatu football will do? I assume there will be a strong turnout at the funeral. The family, I guess, will be needing a bit of support - is there any information on that sort of stuff yet?

HA: Yes, late Selwyn is still in the hospital. What I heard this morning is that they will fly him to his home island, Ambae, maybe this afternoon so Vanuatu will help and give their support to Selwyn, and also the club Amicale FC will give their support to Selwyn's family. It's a sad day I know for all the players and the Vanuatu Football Federation have encouraged the players that there is always life after football. You have to keep your family safe and you safe and think about your life because this is the most important thing in life.