BEIRUT: Lebanese football star Celine Haidar has awakened from a coma nearly two months after suffering a critical head injury during an Israeli airstrike, her father and coach told Arab News on Wednesday.
“By the grace of Allah she has awakened from coma but she remains in ICU as she cannot speak and still requires a ventilator to help her breathe properly,” said Abbas Haidar, the father of the 19-year-old international footballer.
In mid-November, Haidar, who is a youth international and captains her club, Beirut Football Academy, was injured while fleeing her home in Al-Chiyyah in Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli warning of an imminent attack on their building.
Speaking from Saint Georges Hospital where his daughter is being treated, her father confirmed that Celine awoke a few days ago (without giving a date), saying “she still cannot talk easily, and remains under extensive treatment.”
He expressed his joy “because she has recognized us (her family members),” adding that whenever they want to chat with her, she writes down her replies.
Her coach at BFA, Samer Barbary, revealed to Arab News that he visited her two days ago. “She is still on a ventilator, however, she extended her right arm to shake hands with me … when I asked if she still wants to play football, she pressed on my hand and moved her right leg in an obvious sign of wanting to do so,” Barbary said.
Abbas explained that his daughter’s situation still requires further medical assessment and follow-up. He hopes that she improves soon and starts rehabilitation.
“She still realizes that she is a footballer and wants to go back to football once her medical situation allows her.”
Meanwhile, her coach said: “Her medical treatment and follow-up still requires time and effort … and based on how her medical situation progresses, we hope that she could be back on the green pitch.”
Barbary told Arab News previously: “She is Lebanon’s Sergio Busquets and has got remarkable skills in her position as a central midfielder.”
Her father said in November that their neighborhood had been subject to ongoing threats and bombardment before the family moved to a safer location outside Beirut.
“Celine is a very vibrant and sociable person. She found us the house in Baakline.”

Haidar stayed in Baakline for two days and returned to Al-Chiyyah to attend school and her football training. Her father was notified by phone that she had been injured and admitted to hospital.
Rising star Haidar represented her country as a member of the under-19 women’s national team who won the 2022 West Asia Cup, hosted by Lebanon, and had been selected to play for the senior national team before her injury.
“Celine is one of the best football midfielders in Lebanon … she is consistent, stable and a leader. She played a major role in us winning the 2024 league unbeaten,” Barbary said.
Before joining BFA in 2021, she played for Safa Club and with them won the Lebanese National League.

DUBAI: Pakistan top-order powerhouse Fakhar Zaman is getting ready for the DP World ILT20 with the Desert Vipers, but he believes he still has plenty to offer Pakistan.

The 34-year-old has not played for his country since the ICC T20 World Cup in June of 2024, but he told the Vipers Voices podcast he has not turned the page on his international career.

“Hundred percent I will play for Pakistan (again),” he said. “Actually, many people do not know about that, but after the T20 World Cup I got sick and because of the medical condition I was not fit, so I was not a part of the team.

“But now I recovered a 100 percent, and you will see me in the next international series which Pakistan plays.”

The next major white-ball tournament for Pakistan is the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, hosted by Pakistan, and it is an event that in 2017 saw Zaman announce himself on the world stage, with a match-winning 100 against India in the final at The Oval in London.

“My plan has been around the Champions Trophy (in 2025),” he said. “I did not play in the Australia tour or in the South Africa tour, so my whole plan was just to play in the Champions Trophy to make myself available and to be fully fit for the tournament.

“That was in the back of my mind, and I am thankful, and I am lucky to be fit right now. I started from the Champions Trophy 2017 and that went really well for me and now I am very excited for the next edition also.”

Incumbent Pakistan opener Saim Ayub was recently injured during Pakistan’s tour to South Africa, potentially opening up a spot for Zaman. But the Pakistani batter said he expected to stay with the Desert Vipers for the whole tournament while wishing for Ayub’s speedy recovery.

“I hope and I believe that he will recover quickly, and I was thinking yesterday to call Saim just to talk to him about this injury,” he said. “Believe me, he is such a great player that if he continues to play for the next four to five years, he will be at the top and he will be amongst the top three players in the world.”

Zaman was a top target for the Desert Vipers’ Director of Cricket Tom Moody for this year’s tournament in the UAE, with the Australia ICC Cricket World Cup winner calling the left-hander “a true match-winner.”

From Zaman’s perspective, the opportunity to link up with the Desert Vipers required little thought.

“There are many Pakistani players who have played for the Desert Vipers including Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Azam Khan and Mohammad Amir. And they talk really highly about this team, the environment, the management, the way they play the cricket and the way their mindset is,” he said.

“So, when I got the offer, without any discussion with anyone, I said ‘yes, I would love to play for this team.’

“I was really excited and, to be honest, I was supporting this team even before I was a part of this, so I am really excited to be here and I am very happy.”

Zaman has more than 5,000 international runs and over 7,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket, but although he is best known as an opener, he has batted from one to six for Pakistan in the shortest international format.

And although he wants to open, he is willing to slot in anywhere. “Of course, my preference is always to open for any team, like if I play in the T20 matches or 50-over games, but you know it also depends on the team requirement,” he said.

“In Pakistan we have three of the best players in the world in Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub, so sometimes I feel lucky to be in the team even if I am not able to make my place in the team as an opener.

“If the team has faith in me and they want me to bat at number four or five, so that totally makes sense, because for me the team is always first and I play wherever the team wants me to play, but I always prefer to open.”

Looking ahead to the DP World ILT20, Zaman said that while he was relishing playing with every single member of the Vipers squad, there was one player in particular that he could not wait to line up alongside.

“I know he does not know about it, but I am very excited to play with Sherfane Rutherford because he is one of the best cricketers in the T20 format and I really enjoy seeing him batting,” he said.

“I am very excited to be part of this team, and I want to share the crease with him. He is one of the best players, so I am very excited to play with that guy.”

And as for the prospects for the team in the upcoming tournament, Zaman said he was confident the group would be successful.

“If you see our team, the team is very balanced,” he said. “We have a good mix of young players and experienced players. We have good players, and we have strength in both our bowling and batting.

“So, if we play as a team — and you know in cricket you need luck also —then hopefully, if luck favors us, you will see us in the finals.”

The Desert Vipers’ first match of the 2025 DP World ILT20 is on day two of the tournament, against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.