Bahri Kavaja

Bahri Kavaja

Personal information
Full name	Bahri Ahmet Kavaja
Date of birth	23 August 1924[1]
Place of birth	Shkodër, Albania
Date of death	19 August 1987 (aged 62)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1942–1949[2]	Vllaznia Shkodër
1949–1950	Dinamo Tirana
National team
1946–1950	Albania	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Bahri Ahmet Kavaja (23 August 1924 – 19 August 1987) was an Albanian football player who played for Vllaznia Shkodër and Dinamo Tirana as well as the Albania national team.^[3]

In 1950 after a game in Hungary, he escaped his team along with Dule Vathi after swimming the strait of Bosphorus, and did not return to the Communist regime in Albania, eventually settling in New Zealand.^[4][5] He became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1965,^[1] and died in Adelaide, South Australia, on 19 August 1987.^[6]

References

1. "New Zealand, naturalisations, 1843–1981". Ancestry.com Operations. Retrieved 10 January 2016. (subscription required (help)).
2. e Kampionatit të parë mbarëkombëtar të futbollit
3. EU Football profile
4. Magelanet Shqiptare te futbollit
5. Imigrimet e para të shqiptarëve në Zelandën e Re
6. "Deceased search results". Centennial Park Cemetery. Retrieved 10 January 2016.