Spare a thought for Rafael on Father’s Day

“FATHER’S Day,” instructs timeanddate.com “is celebrated worldwide to recognise the contribution that fathers and father figures make to the lives of their children.

“This day celebrates fatherhood and male parenting. Although it is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide, many countries observe this day on the third Sunday in June.”

Next Sunday many father figures will be feted by their offspring and showered with all manner of gifts and goodies.

The triple K is not the Klu Klux Klan but Katleho, Kabelo and Khanya, the terrible trio of rascals who vacuum clean the food in the fridge and munch the contents in the cupboards with immaculate ease.

The breakfast the boys usually serve will never clinch them South Africa’s best chef contest.

But to their credit, shame, it has never left me in pole position on the toilet seat.

And the little girl is no Picasso, but she does draw a man with a boep in a cap with the words Happy Father’s Day Baba, scribbled in doctor’s handwriting.

No such luck for Rafael, the threeyear-old son of Cheick Tioté.

Death visited Rafael’s family on Monday.

It claimed the life of his footballer father who collapsed and died while training with his teammates at Chinese club Beijing Enterprises.

The most heartbreaking sight was seeing a picture of tiny Rafael donning the black and white shirt of Newcastle United, his father’s former club. On the back the shirt bore the words “R.I.P Daddy” above the number 24.

The Magpies paid a poignant tribute to Tioté. On their @NUFC twitter handle, the club posted a video of Tioté’s goal, his solitary strike for the club in his entire six-and-a-half-season stay.

He was a defensive central midfielder, a destroyer. Only the deluded would have expected him to deliver a deluge of goals.

United’s tweet simply stated: “We’ll never forget you Cheick.”

That thunderbolt of a volley he belted against Arsenal to force a 4-4 draw was a terrific piece of technique which elevated the Ivory Coast international to cult-hero status . More than 50 caps for his country. Much of his time at Tyneside was under the tutelage of manager Allen Pardew.

“None of us will ever forget that incredible day when our Newcastle team came from 4-0 down to draw.

“An incredible goal in the final moments of that game, one of the iconic moments in Premier League history,” pronounced Pardew in paying tribute to a player he and fellow former United coaches Chris Hughton and Steve McLaren collectively and correctly described as a warrior.

The game in question was one of the best the business of football has delivered. That equaliser against the Gunners left the commentator drooling: “Incredible. Astonishing. Sensational. Newcastle United have pulled off one of the greatest Premier League comebacks of all time.”

Ivory Coast and Africa have lost an ambassador, a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations champion. The football fraternity has lost one of its finest servants. While you’re planning what rabbit to pull out of the hat for your father, spare a thought for Rafael whose mother Nikki tweeted: “Just lost the love of my life. Rest in peace Cheiky” and “What do I tell our son Cheiky? #RIPTiote. Nikki”.

Spare a thought for three-year-old Rafael on Father’s Day.