Soccer player Mohamed Buya Turay was forced to miss his wedding after signing with a big European team, so his brother took his place at the altar.
The Sierra Leonean forward had just signed a new contract with Swedish side team Malmo FF after he spent some time playing with Chinese club Songshan Longmen.
While this new offer was a dream come true, Malmo FF threw a spanner in the works by requiring Turay report to pre-season training in Sweden on July 21, the same day as his wedding to fiancée Suad Baydoun was set to take place in Sierra Leone.
So, Turay traveled to Sweden to be unveiled as a Malmo player on July 22.
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The wedding went on without him but to ensure his girlfriend wasn’t left at the altar alone, he asked his brother to take his place.
turay awning Afton Bladet: “We got married on July 21 in Sierra Leone.”
“But I wasn’t there because Malmo asked me to come out here earlier,” he joked.
Fortunately, Turay and his bride had the chance to take some wedding photos before he jetted off to Sweden.
in a sweet Twitter post, Turay shared the beautiful snaps of him and Baydoun in their wedding outfits.
“I married my sweetheart, wife and best friend today!!!,” he wrote. “What an amazing human being!! And what a blessing!!!”
“I can’t wait to enjoy life with you together soboti.”
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Though Turay received some backlash for his decision, most of his followers were ultimately supportive.
One commented, “for all of you that don’t understand. When you marry, you do all the legal stuff on paper. Then you have a ceremony afterwards. For that ceremony you can always have a proxy standing in for you. That is what Buya had.”
They later added, “Big congratulations to you both.”
After his story went viral, Turay also shared some gorgeous photos of his brother as the groom-replacement.
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Turay’s brother and Baydoun looked gorgeous as they donned brightly-coloured garments traditional for a Nikkah wedding.
Baydoun hasn’t had a chance to see Turay since his debut with Malmo where his team won 3-0 against Diddeleng in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, but he hopes to bring her over soon.
“I will try to get her to Sweden and Malmo now so she can be close to me. She will live here with me,” he said.
“First, we [Malmo] are going to win the league, and then I will go on a honeymoon.”
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