A Nigerian football star, Gift Atulewa is dead.
Atulewa was a former youth international.
The prolific forward died at the age of 38.
His death was confirmed by Azuka Chiemeka, spokesperson for the Delta State Football Association, per Premium Times report.
According to Mr Azuka, Atulewa succumbed to complications from high blood pressure around 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
“We just buried the wife last month, that may have contributed to this development. He has blood pressure issues but he has been managing it, just day before yesterday, the condition became bad and he was taken to the hospital, they noticed he had malaria but aside from that, the blood pressure kept going up, we lost him this morning by 7 a.m, ” Premium Times quoted the Delta State FA spokesperson.
Mr Azuka reflected on Atulewa’s recent involvement in football, saying, “As we are speaking, there is an ex-international football tournament going on in Delta State and he is part of the ex Uwei where he comes from, he is part of their team, he scored the first goal of the tournament from his wonderful free kick that he is known for, he scored that goal like three weeks ago when the competition began.”
Additionally, Atulewa had recently returned from Cote d’Ivoire, where he completed a coaching course.
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