Footballer Mohamed Buya Turay missed his own wedding, sent his brother instead

Malmo striker Mohamed Buya Turay missed his own wedding after the club requested he joined the squad earlier.

The 27-year-old signed for the Swedish outfit in the summer after a spell playing in the Chinese Super League both Hebei China Fortune and Henan Songshan Longmen.

The transfer was announced by Malmo on 22 July after travelling to the city, but his wedding ceremony in Sierra Leone was set to take place on July 21st.

Malmo wanted him to link up with his teammates sooner and because he wasn't able to be in two places at once, Turay had to get his brother to take his place for the wedding to his girlfriend Suad Baydoun.

Turay did post three pictures of himself and his new wife on his social media channels but confirmed those images were taken prior to the actual event.

However, he wasn't able to be with his wife at the time, although he did reveal that the pair were planning on going on their honeymoon later in the year.

"We got married on July 21 in Sierra Leone," Turay told Afton Bladet.

"But I wasn't there because Malmö asked me to come here earlier.

"We took the pictures in advance. So it looks like I was there but I wasn't. My brother had to represent me at the wedding itself.

"But I will try to get her to Sweden and Malmö now so she can be close to me. She will live here with me."

He had prior experience of playing in Sweden, having won the Allsvenskan in 2019 while on loan at Djurgårdens IF, where he was also the league's top scorer.

Turay, who has a young daughter from a previous relationship, hit headlines a few years back when he claimed an injury suffered on international duty was the result of black magic following his Golden Boot victory.

"The native doctor told me the cause of the toe injury was because I stepped on a spiritual object in Leone Stars camp, put there for me by a person who wanted me to get elephantiasis thereby destroying my career," he told the BBC.

"She further told me that if I had gone to the hospital for treatment or had used conventional medicine to try and heal the toe that would have ended my career.”

The move hasn't exactly worked out perfectly for the forward, who has scored just once, and picked up an assist, in 10 league games for Malmo.

In the Europa League, the Sierra Leone star has scored one in five games, as the Swedish side ended bottom of their group with no points.

The team finished seventh in the league with 13 wins in their 30 games, ending up 10 points behind the European places.