Former national footballer Golam Rabbani Helal, who was on life support at the Square Hospital after suffering brain haemorrhage at his Dhanmondi Residence on Thursday, has breathed his last today at around 12:00pm at the age of 67. 

"In the morning today, the doctors informed me that his heart-rate was going down gradually and the medication was not working. The doctors even tried to remove the blood-clot [in his brain] but they were unsuccessful because he had lost a lot of blood. Then today they informed me that he was no more," informed Golam Kaife, nephew of Helal to The Daily Star today.  

Kaife also informed that the namaz-e-janaza of Helal will be held after Asr prayers at the Abahani Club ground before his burial at the Azimpur graveyard. 

Helal, who was in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the last few days, has left behind his wife and two daughters. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin and other high-ups expressed their condolences at the passing away of the former national booter. 

Before suffering from haemorrhage, 67-year-old Helal had been suffering from kidney disease and undergoing dialysis for the last year. He also underwent an open-heart surgery after cardiac arrest in April, 2017.

Helal played for the national football team from 1979 to 1985. At the club level, Helal had been a permanent player of Abahani where he played from 1975 to 1988 except a short spell at BJMC. He was one of four footballers who landed in prison following chaos in a Dhaka derby against arch-rivals Mohammedan SC in 1982. 

After retiring from football, Helal become a director of Abahani and occupied different roles for the club. He was also an executive committee member of BFF for five years.