On Saturday, 3 February 2024, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts, in cooperation with the Ankawa Social Youth Club, held a memorial ceremony for bodybuilder Eiffel Afram Matti, in the Youth Club Hall in Erbil’s Ankawa district.
The memorial ceremony included the lighting of 46 candles by the attendees, representing the number of years the deceased lived, in addition to delivering eulogies and vivid testimonies about him, including the performance of a number of religious hymns and sorrowful musical pieces.
During the ceremony, a short documentary film was shown that narrated the deceased’s career and the achievements he accomplished from his primary school days in Ankawa until his death in the American state of Florida late last year.
The General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts had mourned the death of bodybuilder Eiffel Afram Matti, who was killed on Saturday 23 December 2023, in a drowning accident in the American state of Florida.
Matti went missing on Saturday 23 December after he was submerged in the water while canoeing in the US state of Florida, where his body was found on Tuesday 26 December, near the state’s beaches.
It is worth noting that Eiffel Afram Matti is considered one of the most prominent fitness and bodybuilding champions. He was born in Ankawa and headed the Ankawa Social Youth Club’s first administrative body. During his sporting career, he achieved many international awards in the sport of bodybuilding, where he won the bronze medal in the Southern United States of America Championship in 2011, in addition to achieving fourth place in the European World Championship for Amateurs and Professionals, in the American city of Orlando.
