Support truly
independent journalism
Fellow football players paid tribute to one of the British men believed to have died in Sweden after two bodies were found in a burnt-out car.
Business partners and best friends Farooq Abdulrazaq, 37, and Juan Cifuentes, 33, had travelled for an overnight business trip to Denmark on 14 July to promote their agency, Empire Holidays.
Family members reported the pair missing after they failed to board their return flight to London. Two men were found dead on Sunday afternoon in the city of Malmo, inside a rented Toyota RAV4 left in the Fosie industrial area, but they have not yet been formally identified by authorities.
Welwyn Garden City FC has now paid tribute to Mr Cifuentes, who used to play for the team, calling him a “great person”.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, a club spokesperson said: “Everyone at the club is saddened and shocked by the news yesterday of the passing of Juan Cifuentes.
“Juan was part of our double-winning squad in 2014-15. A very good player and great person.
“We send our condolences to all his family, friends and ex-teammates. RIP Juan.”
His former midfield partner, Perry Stellen, wrote on Facebook: “What a man first of all and an absolute joy of a football player to play next to in midfield. Absolutely gutted about this. RIP to the king of nutmegging people.”
Mr Cifuentes’s former coach at the club, Adam Fisher, posted a video clip of the long-range curler that made him a “legend” at the club.
He added in a post on X: “I’m absolutely devastated, upset, angry and more. This man was an absolute pleasure to manage and someone that became a close friend, a brilliant teammate, a father and husband. My sincere condolences and thoughts to all his family - Fly high Juanito my friend and RIP.”
Swedish police said the victims were shot on Sunday, with the Toyota Rav4 then set on fire in an industrial area of the city in southern Sweden.
A close friend told The Independent he feared it may have been a targeted attack but did not believe the business partners would have got into trouble in Sweden.
He said: “They travelled from Denmark and had no problems. They crossed the border and were shot at in the forest, either [because] they had money on them or were in a nice car. They were shot at first so an altercation must have happened before.
“Farooq helped out so much with charities, he had absolutely nothing to do with drugs or gangs.”
The friend said they were very close “like Tom and Jerry”. He added: “You have your best mate – sometimes you fall out, but they always stuck together. They managed to mix business and friendship and make it work. They were trying to promote their business by going into new areas, looking for hotspots and posting online to get people to come in.
“I spoke to Farooq a month ago. He was bubbly and friendly at the mosque. He always attended prayers on time.
“Farooq was an outstanding member of the community and one of the best guys I have ever met. He was a great character and really community-minded. He didn’t have children but was married. I’m not worried about him because he always gave to charity. I’ve been so upset.”
Kerstin Gossé from the Swedish police said: “We are trying to form an idea of how these people ended up at the scene, what they did before that and what contacts they have had. We are putting together a puzzle now and trying to trace back to understand what has happened and what they have been through.”
According to Swedish national newspaper Aftonbladet, the car had been rented at Copenhagen airport by a British citizen before the driver and the passenger travelled across the Denmark-Sweden border and into the city of Malmo.
The pair were captured on CCTV hiring the car from the airport with a third man believed to have met them out of sight of cameras, the paper said.
Laura Cifuentes, the sister of Mr Cifuentes, told The Sun on Wednesday there’s “probably [a] 99% chance” the bodies are her brother and Mr Abdulrazak.
But she said: “There’s no confirmation. There’s no confirmation that they’ve been shot. The bodies are still being identified.
“They were meant to return home and it was meant to be a short business trip.”
A Swedish police spokesman said on Wednesday: “The two people who were found dead in a burnt-out car on Sunday afternoon have not yet been identified.
“The bodies are being examined by forensic medicine. The incident is currently being investigated as a murder.
“Several witnesses have been interviewed and the police are interested in further observations and tips. If you have information that could be of interest to the police, call +46 77-114 14 00.”
The UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting the families of two British men reported missing in Sweden and are in touch with the local authorities.”
