A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he called a protest against the “police state” ruling the country, his brother said. Nizar Issaoui, 35, sustained third-degree burns from his action in the village of Haffouz in the central region of Kairouan, his brother Ryad said. He was taken from hospital in Kairouan to the specialist burns hospital in the capital, Tunis, but doctors were unable to save him, the brother said. He died on Thursday and was buried the following day. Issaoui’s protest recalled that of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor who burned himself to death on 17 December 2010, leading to the Tunisian revolution that in turn triggered the Arab Spring uprisings, which toppled authoritarian regimes across the Middle East. News of Issaoui’s death prompted protests on the streets of Haffouz on Thursday evening, Tunisian media reported. Young demonstrators threw stones at police, who responded with teargas. Similar clashes broke out during the funeral on Friday. Hundreds of mourners gathered outside Issaoui’s house before his funeral, shouting: “With our blood and with our soul we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Nizar.” There was no immediate comment from the authorities. Issaoui was a free agent at the time of his death, after a career in which he played for a range of clubs from the lower divisions to the top flight. In a Facebook post shortly before his fatal action, Issaoui said he had sentenced himself to “death by fire”. “I have no more energy. Let the police state know that the sentence will be executed today,” he wrote. According to Tunisian media, Issaoui decided to make his extreme protest against the police after officers accused him of “terrorism” when he complained that he was unable to buy bananas for less than 10 dinars ($3.30) a kilogram, double the price set by the government. A video selfie circulating on social media shows Issaoui screaming: “For a dispute with someone selling bananas at 10 dinars, I get accused of terrorism at the police station. Terrorism for a complaint about bananas.”