Zlatan Ibrahimovic refused to grant dying boy his last wish

Hajrudin Kamenjas, who doctors say has a month to live, travelled to Paris from his home in Bosnia to see the footballer but no meeting took place. Parents Amela and Mustafa had already been told Ibrahimovic could not travel to Hajrudin’s home in Vares because of Champion’s League commitments. But when the family moved Hajrudin and all his medical equipment to France they were again told Ibrahimovic could not meet the dying boy, even though they were at the stadium.

Ibrahimovic suffered a knee injury on November 1 when Hajrudin had tickets for the match. However, the family claim they were told the football star would be available the following day. Friends of the family and the German charity Light For Tomorrow helped pay for and organise the trip so Hajrudin’s final wish could be fulfilled.


Mrs Kamenjas, 35, said: ‘We knew it would be next to impossible that he came here but we did ask, and were politely told that it wasn’t possible. ‘But then local people gathered round and asked us if they could help send him to France where he plays for club Paris Saint Germain.’ The family say they were told by the club that it would be possible for him to meet Ibrahimovic if he was in Paris. But they claim once they arrived in the French capital, problems began to emerge.

The couple say various promises were not kept and eventually Hajrudin turned up to watch a game in which his idol was not present because he was injured. They say the schoolboy was told repeatedly the following day that Ibrahimovic would see him soon, he was forced to return home to Bosnia before a meeting could take place.

Mrs Kamenjas said: ‘I did not succeed in giving my son his last wish, and that hurts.’ Trip organiser Thea Rekic, who runs the charity and travelled to Paris with the family, claims they were told repeatedly a meeting would happen but were constantly let down.

She said: ‘We thought we could meet him, but despite contact with PSG and huge effort on our part, we did not succeed, and needed to tell Hajrudin a lie that Zlatan was ill and in a hospital.’ She said the story could have been a ‘fairytale’ but does not have a ‘happy end’. Hajrudin has had a bone marrow transplant in his fight against cancer and has been treated by top doctors in Germany.

However, they have said there is nothing more that can be done for Hajrudin and have given him a month to live. Before the failed attempt to meet Ibrahimovic in Paris, the footballer had sent Hajrudin a message and signed shirt as he could not travel to Bosnia to meet him.


In a video he said: ‘Hello Hajrudin, I am Zlatan. Since I heard of you, I thought a lot about you. I am sorry I can’t come, but I have a present for you. I have signed my autograph on a jersey and I want you to know that I think a lot about you. ‘I will also give this jersey I wore yesterday when I scored two goals.’