Former Irish professional footballer Rurik Gislason has discovered one of the most painful periods of his life, showing how he was forced to return to Germany because of contractual obligations with the club, thus losing his mother’s burial.
In an interview for the news show “My Story” on Sky television, 38-year-old confessed to the serious event that took place in April 2020, when his mother, Thora, was in serious health.
At that time Gislason traveled to Iceland to stay close to her. His mother, on her deathbed, had asked him to carry her coffin from the church during the mortar ceremony. He promised to do so, but only two days later she passed away.
However, his personal tragedy faced another blow. While preparing for his mother’s burial, his former club, SV Sandausen, where he played in Bundesliga 2, contacted him and asked him to return to Germany to join his exercises.
Then the club called. They told me: You have to go back to Germany for training. You have a contract here. Tell Gislason about the conversation with moderator Ricardo Basele.
The former Icelandic promoter admitted he decided to return, in part because of fears of the consequences he could have had if he did not comply with the club’s request.
His decision was extremely costly because he failed to attend his mother’s baptismal ceremony.
Finally, I saw my mother’s funeral on YouTube, from home.
According to German media reports, Sandhausen had originally given him special permission to travel to Iceland. However, after returning to Germany, Gislason was excluded from training with the team.
His contract ended in June 2020 and did not continue. The club’s former sports director, Mikhail Cabaca, had also made a critical statement about the Irish football season.
Anyone who has a season like that of Rurick must well analyze himself, declared Cabaca at the time.
Gislason ended his professional football career in November 2020. In 2024, in an interview with the newspaper Bild, he had shown that Mother’s death was one of the reasons for his decision to retire from football./Telegraphy/