Former Oranje national player: Ricksen dies with 43 of nervous disease ALS

Former Dutch football player Fernando Ricksen has succumbed to nervous disease at the age of just 43. That was announced by his former club Glasgow Rangers. Ricksen played in 2000 and 2006 at the Scottish record champions.

"Sadly, we're told that our former player Fernando Ricksen has lost the fight against the nerve disease ALS this morning," the club wrote on Twitter about a photo of the right-back. Peter Lovenkrands, a former teammate, described Ricksen as a "real warrior in the field, who would always be missed".

Rangers is deeply saddened to announce that former player Fernando Ricksen passed away this morning following his battle with motor neurone disease.

In October 2013, Ricksen had made his illness public. The ex-professional, who had previously ended his career at Fortuna Sittard, denied twelve internationals for the Dutch national team.

Ricksen, who had a daughter with his wife, tried among other things with its own foundation to draw attention to the deadly disease. In 2015, the Rangers' Ibrox hosted a charity match in front of 41,000 spectators. The encounter brought in more than 360,000 euros.