Tragedy as Popular Champions League Referee Dies After Suffering Stroke in Training

• Renown Champions League and Ligue 1 referee Johan Hamel has passed away
• Hamel passed away on Wednesday morning after suffering a stroke in training a day earlier
• The last match he took charge of was Lille’s draw with Rennes on November 6

The football world has been plunged into mourning after popular French referee was confirmed dead on Wednesday, November 16.

Hamel, who was a Ligue 1 and Champions League match official, died aged just 42 after suffering a stroke.

According to L'Equipe, cited on The Mirror, Hamel suffered a stroke in training and lost his life hours later.

He is considered one of the elite referees in Europe and has been in charge of a number of big games this season prior to his death.

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One of his final games which he took charge of was the entertaining Ligue 1 clash between French giants Rennes and Lille, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

In the Champions League, he was in charge of the Real Madrid-Celtic clash which Los Blancos emphatically won 5-1 on November 2.

He has been refereeing at top level since 2016, and has taken charge of 135 Ligue 1 games and 85 Ligue 2 games.

His stroke was suffered during a routine training exercise on the evening of Tuesday, November 15, according to The Sun.

Tributes pour in

Soon after news of his death hit the internet, a number of Ligue 1 clubs took to social media to mourn Hamel with touching tributes.

The likes of Metz, Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Lille all shared varying tributes on their respective social media handles.

France lose top striker just days to World Cup

In other news, Sports Brief reported on France’s blow as they lost their talisman Christopher Nkunku to injury just days to the World Cup.

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The 25-year-old had already been named in Didier Deschamps' squad ahead of the tournament in Qatar, but his dream to play in the tournament was cut short after a freak injury during training.

He appeared to be caught by a 50-50 challenge from Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga at Les Blues’ Clairefontaine training base.

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker is the newest on a list of big-name absentees for the reigning World champions, after injuries to Presnel Kimpembe, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante.