Wanis Honsor

On the morning of 11 November 2026 Saint-Denis FC were training at the Stade de la Jamaique in Saint-Denis ahead of a weekend match against the JS Saint-Pierroise. At around 10am Honsor felt a sharp pain in his chest, held on to a fence and collapsed. Teammates began cardiac massage before firefighters and the SMUR mobile emergency unit took over, working for more than 30 minutes without success. He died of cardiac arrest at the age of 22. Local reports said no investigation had been opened.

The Reunion football league said his parents had asked for him to be repatriated to mainland France and promised to help with the arrangements, and a psychological support unit was set up for the players.

Wanis Honsor was born in late 2003; he would have turned 23 in the week after his death. He was trained at FC Rouen 1899, the historic Normandy club, where he played in several youth categories before moving up to the reserve team.

Honsor made three appearances for Rouen's first team during the 2023 to 2024 season, and the club recalled that he scored a goal at the Stade Robert Diochon. He continued his career at Dieppe and then, in July 2025, joined FC Flers in the Orne at the invitation of Franck Dechaume, with the aim of helping the club return to National 3. On arrival he told L'Orne Combattante that he had immediately sensed the club's interest in him and praised its facilities, saying several training pitches were important to him.

In January 2026 he moved to Reunion to join Saint-Denis FC, where he played at left back for the senior team. The club's president, Jonathan Alpou, had recruited him personally in mainland France.

Honsor married a few weeks before his death and had just returned to Reunion from mainland France, where the wedding took place. His wife had joined him on the island shortly before he died. Alpou remembered him simply as "a kind boy".

His death shocked football in Reunion and in Normandy. Saint-Denis FC said its president, staff and players were "profoundly shocked and devastated" and called off the match against the Saint-Pierroise. The president of Reunion's regional Olympic committee, Johan Guillou, said a whole sporting family had been struck by grief, and Saint-Denis mayor Ericka Bareigts said a young man with so many dreams still to fulfil had left far too soon. FC Rouen, where he was trained, also sent its condolences.