TRAGEDY: Nigerian footballer slumps on pitch, confirmed dead, cause of death emerges

In soccer, many envy footballers for their huge salaries and luxurious lives, but those things are achievable and worth it when their lives are safe and well-maintained. This is why many flaunt their wealth, not because they are extraordinarily rich but because they are alive to enjoy their wealth.

Footballers have died similarly and the primary causes of on-field deaths have evolved over time. Improvements in infection control and emergency surgery since the early days of organised soccer have mostly eliminated the fatal complications that were once common after routine sporting injuries. Squad rotation and substitutes have also reduced the need for seriously ill players to start, or remain in, games, and lifestyle factors are now tightly controlled.

However, deaths from heart failure have increased as the intense pace of the modern game has placed higher demands on players’ aerobic conditioning.

In Nigeria, a footballer, identified as Adeyemi Adewale, 29, from Ilesa West Football Team, has tragically lost his life during a football match.

Adewale, 29, was participating in the Adeleke Memorial Cup Final match at the Ataoja School of Science on Thursday when he collapsed on the field. Efforts to save him proved futile as he was rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, where doctors confirmed him dead upon arrival.

Spokesperson for the Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed the incident in a statement, adding that investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death have commenced.

“Today, (Thursday) while the Adeleke Memorial Cup Final match was going on at Ataoja School of Science, one Adeyemi Adewale ‘M’ 29yrs, a player of Ilesa West Football team, slumped on the pitch.

“He was rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, where he was later confirmed dead by a doctor,” the statement said.

The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the teaching hospital’s morgue.