IMMEMORIAL
Trial over Maradona’s death postponed until 2025
A trial of eight health workers charged with “homicide by negligence” over the death of Diego Maradona has been postponed from October until March, Argentine media reported on Thursday.
A court in San Isidro, a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, granted the request of three of the eight defendants to postpone for a second time the trial, originally scheduled for June 4 and due to start on Oct. 1.
The process will now begin on March 11, the Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported.
The footballing great, who led Argentina to a second World Cup title in 1986, died aged 60 in November 2020 from heart failure after undergoing brain surgery days earlier.
Among those charged in the death of the former Boca Juniors and Napoli player are his neurosurgeon, psychologist, psychiatrist and nurses, who could face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
-Reuters
IMMEMORIAL
Beckenbauer to have street named after him near Munich’s Allianz Arena
The legendary German footballer, regarded as one of the greatest players in the world, who passed away earlier this year, will be remembered forever with the honour of having his name given to one of the streets next to the Bayern Munich stadium where the midfielder spent 13 years of his career.
The street is currently called Werner-Heisenberg-Allee and is located next to the Bayern Munich stadium. The change, which is expected to become official at the beginning of the year, means that the stadium – which will host the Champions League final in May 2025 – will officially be located at Franz Beckenbauer Platz 5, the midfielder’s shirt number.
The news was announced by Munich City Council last Thursday and the process of implementing the change is already underway. The aim is to complete the process by 7 January. This will coincide with the anniversary of the unforgettable footballer’s death at the age of 78.
“The naming of a street is the highest honour the city of Munich can bestow posthumously, and it is a sign of the deep respect and esteem we have for Franz Beckenbauer,” said Mayor Dieter Reiter in a statement.
“He left a lasting mark on Germany’s sporting landscape with his sporting successes and his commitment to football. His calm, humorous character and his way of expressing himself will always be part of Munich’s way of life,” Reiter added.
Beckenbauer was nicknamed ‘The Emperor’ for his dominant style on the pitch. He became one of the most important footballers of his time with his effortless, skilful play, excellent ball control and remarkable technical ability.
He was a leader on the pitch as well as in the dressing room, serving as captain of both Bayern Munich and the German national team.
Beckenbauer won it all. He achieved everything in the world of football and his personality earned him the respect of everyone in the game. He is one of the few players to have won the World Cup as both a player and a manager. He has also won the European Championship and the Ballon d’Or, arguably the highest accolade a footballer can achieve.
At the 1974 World Cup, which he won as a player, he was at the helm of one of the best German teams ever to play effective football. Because of its superiority and strict discipline, the German national team was from then on nicknamed “The Steamroller”.
Meanwhile, the World Cup he won as coach in 1990 will always be remembered forthe final in which Germany defeated Maradona’s Argentina in Italy. The Argentine legend, who was an idol of the team, was reduced to tears as the Germans lifted the trophy.
During his 13 years with Bayern, the Munich-born midfielder won three European Cups and four Bundesliga titles. He later added another league title with Hamburg, his other German club, in 1981-82, but his heart always belonged to Bayern. He finished his career with the New York Cosmos in the United States.
Beckenbauer will also be honoured with a statue outside the stadium. He will sit alongside his Bayern and Germany team-mate Gerd Müller, two legends of German and world football.
IMMEMORIAL
Like Okwaraji; List of players who have collapsed on the pitch
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Like Nigeria’s midfielder, Samuel Okwaraji who collapsed and died on the pitch on a 12 day date in August 1989, another tragedy was averted on another 12 day date in June 2021 in the Euro 2020 football championship when Denmark’s Christian Eriksen collapsed in a match with Finland.
Uefa said Eriksen, who was given CPR by medics on the pitch, was transferred to hospital where the 29-year-old was stabilised, with officials saying he was conscious.
Following is a list of players who have collapsed on the pitch during a match.
Samuel Okwaraji – Nigeria
The Nigerian midfielder collapsed and died of congestive heart failure in the 77th minute of a World Cup qualification match against Angola at the Lagos National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State on 12 August 1989.
David Omofeye aka ‘Idi’ – Nigeria
Daily Times account of death and burial of David Omofeye in 1954.
The Nigerian striker who just missed the cut in the selection of the first national team in 1949 and player of the ‘Old Reliables’ Railway football club of Lagos, slumped and died at the present day Mobolaji Arena, Onikan Lagos during a 6 May 1954 first division match of Railway and Marine. He is the first recorded death on a Nigerian pitch.
Amir Angwe – Nigeria
Efforts to revive Angwe on the field failed.
Playing for Julius Berger against Maxaquine of Mozambique in the African Winners Cup, The Benue State born footballer slumped and died on the turf of Onikan Stadium on 29 October 1995.
Tunde Charity Ikhidero – Nigeria
The member of the 1989 set of Nigerian Flying Eagles died in the hospital following head injury sustained in a league match involving his club, Insurance and Niger Tornadoes in Benin on September 6, 1997.
Endurance Idahor – Nigeria
The former Julius Berger and Dolphin striker, playing for Al Merreikh of Sudan, collapsed and died in Omdurman while playing against Amal Atbara on 6 March 2010.
Fabrice Muamba -England
The Bolton Wanderers midfielder collapsed on the pitch in an FA Cup match in 2012 due to a cardiac arrest and was technically “dead” for 78 minutes before he was revived. The former England under-21 midfielder had to retire soon after at the age of 24.
Bafetimbi Gomis -France
The French striker has collapsed several times on the pitch due to a medical condition which causes him to faint. He has collapsed playing for Swansea City, Galatasaray and Al-Hilal.
Marc-Vivien Foe -Cameroon
The Cameroon midfielder collapsed during a Confederations Cup match in 2003. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate the 28-year-old on the pitch before taking him off on a stretcher.
However, they failed in their attempts to restart his heart and he was pronounced dead.
Antonio Puerta -Spain
The Sevilla midfielder collapsed while jogging back in the first game of the 2007-08 La Liga season against Getafe and, though he walked off the pitch after being helped by medical staff, he collapsed again in the dressing room.
Puerta, a Spain international, was rushed to hospital, where he died three days later of “multiple organ failure” due to a cardiac arrest at the age of 22.
Cheick Tiote – Cote d’Ivoire
Four months after leaving Newcastle United, the midfielder fainted during a training session with Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. The 30-year-old Ivorian died in hospital.
Miklos Feher -Hungary
The Hungary striker was playing for Portuguese side Benfica against Vitoria Guimaraes in January 2004 when he keeled over in pain before falling backwards onto the pitch after a heart attack.
Medics attempted to resuscitate the unconscious 24-year-old before he was taken off on a stretcher and rushed to hospital. Doctors tried to revive him for nearly 90 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
IMMEMORIAL
Flashback: Eye witness account with PHOTOS: How Okwaraji, five fans died on this day 35 years ago
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
This is day after the Olympics, one that must be easily forgotten, at least by expectedly disappointed Nigerians, Sadly too, the day marks the 35th anniversary of the most celebrated on-field death in Nigerian football.
The August 12, 1989 Italia ’90 World Cup qualifying match with Angola could had just been another match day. But it is now ever recalled, not for the result, which was favourable to Nigeria at least in the short run, but for the bizarre happenings.
It was just a day to the 10th anniversary of a previous disaster that claimed 24 lives at the National Stadium, Lagos.
Nigeria desperately needed to win the tie against Angola to be in contention of leading a World Cup qualifying group that also had Gabon and Cameroon.
The result of the penultimate match in Gabon which Nigeria against form books had lost 1-2 made the August 12, 1989 match the more important.
Besides, it was to be the first match after a long closure of the National Stadium, Lagos which was undergoing upgrading for an anticipated hosting of the then World Youth Championship (now u-20 World Cup) in 1991.
Nigeria had had to play their home matches at the low-capacity Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan until the National Stadium, Lagos was reopened.
Expectedly, the stadium was jam-packed for a teeming crowd that appeared to have been starved for close to two years that the stadium had been closed for refurbishment.
The crowd thronged the 40,000 capacity stadium, filling it nearly 20,000 over. About 4,000 others were stranded outside, making rounds to the 12 ramps leading into the main- bowl.
Announcements blared from the public address system directing the crowd outside to gates D, E and F leading to the southern pavilion at the Lagos end of the field. Gates had been opened nearly seven hours to kick off.
The spectators’ stands were overfilled, resulting in jostling and pushing, chokes, suffocation, exhaustion, and soon, deaths! Moments before kick-off, some of the spectators around the covered terraces began to faint in ones and twos.
Few people might have noticed the unusual incident of an ambulance moving on the just refurbished tartan tracks to convey the fainted fans after efforts at reviving them by medical personnel had failed.
One after the other, fans fainted and died
Then another ambulance came again. Ambulance movements became a common sight. The stadium’s clinic with only three beds became jam-packed with unconscious people.
It turned a gory site as more and more fans collapsed …
Medical personnel said there were so many of them and they had to be treated on the bare floor. Fifteen of them had to be taken to the General Hospital in Lagos.
One Mutiu Salami, a 14-year old victim who was rushed to the General Hospital and regained consciousness three days later narrated his experience: “As the match drew to an end, everybody was rushing. They rushed me and I fell down. The next thing I knew was finding myself at the hospital”.
He was lucky. It was more disastrous for others. Five of them died. Niyi Mosuro, a 15- year-old schoolboy from Ijebu-Ode was one of the victims identified. August 12, 1989, was the first time he would watch a football match at the National Stadium.
It was the last day he lived. Wale Mosuro, his uncle, said Niyi was not quite a football enthusiast. His body was discovered in the morgue. Others identified were bodies of Shehu Tijani and Okorie Agwu.
Nduka Irabor, then the Chief Press Secretary to the Chief of General Staff ( Vice President in the current situation) was on hand to offer helping hands to the dying
Everything went awry that sunny August 12, 1989. Sad incidents that would catch worldwide attention were unfolding. From the sidelines, five football fans were suffocated to death. Football, a national passion, overnight turned a national horror.
The standard of soccer in the Nigeria-Angola match fell below expectation even though both teams paraded a pack of tested professionals. Tackling was rough. Each side lost a penalty kick. Austin Eguavoen lost that of Nigeria.
Journey to the morgue begins for the dead
But the biggest disaster of the day was imminent. As the drab match progressed, an Angolan player slumped.
Medical personnel rushed to administer treatment. It was barely 10 minutes to the end of the match. As attention focussed on the injured player, and while some fans that had fainted by the sidelines were being attended to, the unexpected happened.
Last card! The yellow card by the Togolese referee, Hounnake-Koussai may have been a warning to Okwaraji that the end was imminent.
Dreadlocks haired Samuel Okwaraji, the Nigerian bubbling mid-field maestro, collapsed and fell face down. Few people would have thought it was mere exhaustion.
The nearest player to Samuel Okwaraji, Samson Siasia, rushed to the prostrate form and tried him to face up. What he saw was frightening as he put his hands on his head in despair.
“The way I saw him, he was gasping and foaming. His teeth were gritty… No one could easily ascertain the cause of his death. It still remains a mystery.
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