Sierra Leone forward Turay missed his wedding to join Swedish side Malmo as his brother took ‘his place’

Imagine missing your wedding because of football.

Sierra Leone forward Mohamed Buya Turay did just that when he skipped his wedding to link up with Swedish side Malmo who he recently joined from Chinese club Henan Songshan Longmen.

Turay and his fiance Suad Baydoun had set their nuptials on July 21 but unfortunately for him, his new club Malmo wanted him to report for pre-season training on the very day, handing him a dilemma.

Presented with the tough choices, he chose his club over the wedding and travelled to Sweden to be unveiled as a Malmo player the following day.

However, the wedding still went on without him but the couple had devised a plan that saw his brother switch places with him at the ceremony to walk down the aisle alongside his bride Baydoun.

“We got married on July 21 in Sierra Leone. But I was not there because Malmo asked me to arrive earlier,” Turay told Swedish outlet Aftonbladet.

His pre-wedding plan went further as he even posed for pictures with his bride in their wedding outfits before he jetted off to Sweden and the 27-year-old later posted the staged shots of himself and Baydoun online.

“I married my sweetheart, wife and my best friend today. What an amazing human being. And What a blessing!!! Mrs SBT Suad Baydoun. I can’t wait to enjoy life with you together soboti,” Turay wrote online, accompanying the comment with the staged photos.

Speaking about the photos during the interview, Turay said: “We took the picture beforehand, so it looks like I was there, but I was not. My brother got to represent me at the actual wedding.”

His sacrifices did not go in vain as he made his Malmo debut on Thursday when they won 3-0 against Diddeleng in the third qualifying round of the Uefa Europa League.

Baydoun is yet to see her husband up to now and while he intends to bring her over soon, a honeymoon is off the table at the moment.

“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.”

Malmo are currently fifth on the 16-team Sweden Allsvenskan table with 30 points, three behind leaders Djurgarden, in a tight title race with the earliest a honeymoon can happen being in November when the league concludes.

Turay has six caps for the Leone Stars but he is yet to score for his country since his debut in June 2017.