The 33-year-old player for the national and Canterbury men’s futsal teams was shot by the gunman as he prayed at a mosque in the city.

Elayyan, who was born in Kuwait, had recently become a father and was a popular member of the Christchurch tech industry, it has been reported in New Zealand. 

He was a director and shareholder of a company called LWA Solutions.

The two mass shootings at mosques in the New Zealand city left 49 dead.

A 28-year-old man suspected of being behind yesterday's deadly terror attacks against the Muslim community in Christchurch appeared briefly in court today, where he faced one charge of murder, with the expectation of more similar charges to come.

The man had allegedly entered the Al Noor Mosque and opened fire with multiple weapons, killing 41 people.

Around the same time, a shooter or shooters also opened fire at the nearby Linwood Mosque, killing eight others.

Shortly afterwards, a livestream video of the attack spread around the world through social media, as Facebook and Twitter worked to remove the video from their platforms.

It was reported immediately following the attack that the Bangladesh cricket team, currently on tour in New Zealand, narrowly avoided being caught up in it. 

The Bangladesh team had arrived at the Al Noor Mosque near the Hagley Oval, as the shooting started.

Wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim tweeted that the team was "extremely lucky".