The doping officer of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Joseph Kabungo, has died of a cardiac arrest after a World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Ghana, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2022) The doping officer of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Joseph Kabungo, has died of a cardiac arrest after a World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Ghana, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said on Wednesday.
The Nigerian national team played to a 1-1 draw with Ghana in Abuja, Nigeria on Tuesday and failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar. After the game, Nigerian fans stormed onto the field and started throwing objects, breaking benches and fighting. Kabungo was found outside the dressing room of the Ghanaian team gasping for air and died on the way to hospital of cardiac arrest, the NFF said, denying rumors that he had died in the stampede.
"His death pains us very much and we are in a state of deep shock... However, it is important to state the facts as they are. According to the information from our own medical officer, Dr Onimisi Ozi Salami who was appointed by FIFA as Medical Officer for the game, Dr Kabungo was found gasping for breath near the dressing room of the Ghanaian team. I was notified and ordered that he should be rushed to the hospital. He didn't make it. He died just as they got to the hospital," NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi said in a statement.
The FIFA Security Officer for the match, Dixon Adol Okello from Uganda, confirmed that Kabungo was found gasping for air near a dressing room and was rushed to a hospital after resuscitation attempts failed, but died on the way.
"It is a very sad incident and one is shocked that some persons have been putting a terrible slant to the whole thing by saying he was beaten up by fans. That is a lie. He died as a result of sudden cardiac arrest," the FIFA officer said.
Kabungo was part of the Zambian national football team that won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. The Zambian football association expressed their condolences and said they will wait for a full report from CAF and FIFA on the incident.
