Tragedy struck on the field of play when a footballer, Oyekunle Baaki, known to fans and teammates as Smart, on Wednesday night collapsed and died during a local tournament at Okeho, Kajola local government Area of Oyo State.
Baaki, 27, was playing for United FC Okeho in the Eleniyan football competition against Accurate FC, Iganna when the tragic incident happened.
The player collapsed during extra time of the match after the initial 90 minutes ended goalless without any winner. All efforts to revive him proved abortive.
According to one of the fans who witnessed the sad incident, the player showed no sign of ill health before the incident happened.
“Before the match commenced, he took pictures with some of the players and uploaded them on his Snap chat.
“He was alone, nobody was with him, he just slumped, and people rushed to help him, but he died before they got to the hospital”, the fan said.
A community youth leader in Okeho, Mufideen Dallax said, “his death was shocking, I knew him to be a kind and resourceful person.”
