Second division Malaysian side T-Team FC have confirmed the death of Nigerian defender David Oniya, who slumped during the course of their friendly game against top division side Kelantan, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.
The 30 year old slumped three minutes into the test game and was rushed to the hospital, where he eventually gave up the ghost leading to the stoppage of the game in the 60th minute.
“Oniya was sent to the hospital and the doctors tried their best to resuscitate him.
He was pronounced dead at 10.05 p.m. local time,” the club’s chief executive Syahrizan Mohd Zain was quoted as saying by New Straits Times.
He said the manner of the death of the Nigerian came as a shock because the game wasn’t an intensive one, he went further to blame the ambulance driver, whom he accused of being slow to react because he was watching the game instead of staying alert to his job.
“There was no hard running and it was a slow tempo match. It’s only a friendly game,” Syahrizan said.
“The match was called off in the 60th minute when we received a call from the hospital that Oniya had died. He suffered a heart attack but it could have been a different story had the ambulance driver (been) alert. The driver was at the stands watching the game when Oniya suddenly collapsed and he was deprived of oxygen for several minutes”,he lamented.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman