IMMEMORIAL
From Adams to Zagallo, the A to Z of sports personalities lost in 2024
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
In a few moments, the year 2024 will have rolled off. Welcome 2025! Yet the outgoing year saw the end of some notable personalities in the world, especially in Nigeria.
Those key figures left lasting impacts on their sports. Here are sports legends and trailblazers the world lost in 2024.
January 3: The first Nigerian to lead a team to win global football glory, Sebastian Broderick-Imasuen, died aged 86. He led the Golden Eaglets to the milestone win of the inaugural U16 World Cup in China.
The late coach was one of the players who represented the Nigerian football team at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 and famously scored from a free kick to win the then Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.
As a coach, he was the head of a three-man crew that included Bala Shamaki and Christian Chukwu when the Nigerian team shocked the world in China in 1985.
He led the team again in 1987 to Canada and got to the final before losing through a penalty shoot-out to the then-Soviet Union.
On the third attempt in the competition, his team lost to Saudi Arabia by penalty kick in the quarterfinals.
At another time, he was the assistant to Clemens Westerhof in the Super Eagles.
He began his football career in 1956 when as a student, he featured for the Onitsha team in the Challenge Cup.
In 1962, he joined the then ECN and was part of the Challenge Cup-winning side of 1965. He was invited to the national team in 1962 but only became a regular in the build-up to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
He was noted for his curving shots, especially from free-kick situations.
Popularly called ‘Sabara’, his biggest moment as a club player was when he scored the winning goal in the 3-2 victory for Bendel Insurance in the replay of the 1972 Challenge Cup with Mighty Jets of Jos at the Liberty Stadium – the first time the national cup final was held outside Lagos.
He later became a coach and handled the Midwest junior side to win the gold medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1973.
January 5: Brazil’s Mário Zagallo who held the record for World Cup titles in general with four titles in total and the record for World Cup finals with six participations died, aged 92. He featured for Brazil in 1958, and 1962 and was also the manager at the 1970 edition.
Mario Zagallo, Brazil’s four-time World Cup winner
January 7: Global football icon, Franz Beckenbauer died, aged 78. He won the World Cup both as a player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easy-going charm.
Franz Beckenbauer won the World Cup both as a player and coach for Germany
February 7: Renowned Nigerian sports journalist, archivist, and analyst Kayode Tijani passed on. He reportedly died this Wednesday evening at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after a protracted illness. He had been ill since returning from the Egypt 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
February 7: Former Super Falcons; coach, Godwin Izilein, who led the team to victory at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2004 died in Benin City, aged 81.
He was reported to be battling with “battling abdominal issues.”
February 11: Kenya’s marathon world record holder, Kelvin Kiptum died aged 34. He exploded onto the marathon scene in October 2023 when he ran a scintillating two hours and 35 seconds in Chicago, taking 34 seconds off fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s previous world record.
The death of the 24-year-old, who was driving in western Kenya in February when his car rolled over, left the athletics world in shock. Kiptum was expected to be one of the track superstars of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
April 10: A former American Hall of Fame NFL football star and actor turned celebrity murder defendant, O.J. Simpson died at 76. Nicknamed “The Juice”, Simpson was one of the best and most popular American athletes of the late 1960s and 70s.
May 5: Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach of 1978, César Luis Menotti, died from anaemia. He was aged 85. He led Argentina to the first of their three World Cup titles.
July 16: A pall of darkness again fell on Nigeria’s sports sector as a sports administrator, Ekene Adams, passed on. He aged 39. He was the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports. Before that, he was the General Manager of the Nigerian Premier League side, Remo Stars before going into politics and winning a seat in the Federal House of Representatives representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, Kaduna State.
A former football player, Adams served as the general manager of Remo Stars as well as Kada City before he won a seat in the House of Representatives during the 2023 general elections. His sports background earned him the role of the reps committee chairman on sports despite being a first timer in the green chamber.
July 25: Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu who in 1984 acquired state-owned Spartans FC Owerri and renamed it Iwuanyanwu Nationale died aged 81. The club has since 2006 reverted to the Imo State Government and renamed Heartland FC.
July 27: The owner of the now defunct FC IfeanyiUbah, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, an oil mogul died aged 53. He was a federal lawmaker representing Anambra South Senatorial District.
The lawmaker died in a London hospital. He acquired the former Gabros Club and renamed it after himself as FC IfeanyiUbah. He was elected Senator in 2019 on the platform of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, and re-elected on that platform in 2023.
August 8: Former CAF president Issa Hayatou died 160 days after initial reports and a day before his 78th birthday. Sports Village Square reported that his death was initially rumoured 160 days ago on 1 March.
The Cameroonian was a long-serving president of CAF for 29 years from 1988 until his surprise ouster in 2017.
He also served as acting FIFA president from 2015 to 2016 after Sepp Blatter was suspended by world football’s governing body.
Hayatou, whose brother was the prime minister of Cameroon, was a lifelong sports administrator. He was an International Olympic Committee member from 2001-2016, after which he became an honorary member.
August 26: Nigeria’s first Olympic Games medallist, Nojim Maiyegun, died in Austria.Known to be virtually impaired for years, he has reportedly been in and out of hospital in the previous six months before his death. Maiyegun’s death came just a few days after the 60th anniversary of his feat when he won a bronze medal in boxing on 10 August 1964 at the Olympics in Tokyo.
He shared the bronze medal with Józef Grzesiak of Poland in the Light middleweight category. At the Olympics, the two losers in the semifinals are traditionally awarded the bronze medal, as there is no third-place bout. It was the first time since Helsinki 1952 that Nigeria won a medal. He thus ended Nigeria’s 12-year winless streak at the Olympics.
August 26: The long battle against terminal pancreatic cancer finally came to an end for former England manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson who passed away aged 76.
The popular Swede who was in line to manage Nigeria’s Super Eagles to the 2010 World Cup before he was upstaged by compatriot,Lars Lagerbäck passed away following a successful career in the football industry which included stints with England, Manchester City and Leicester City.
Earlier this year, he announced his imminent death, saying that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had a year to live in a “best-case scenario”.
The announcement was January this year and eight months down the line, he was no more. His football career spanned eight different countries.
He was in charge of England for 67 matches including the World Cup tie with Nigeria which ended goalless in 2002.
August 31: Ivorian soccer centre-back, Sol Bamba, (46 caps; Hibernian, Leicester City, Leeds United, Cardiff City), died from cancer at 39
September 5: Ugandan Olympic marathon runner, Rebeccaa Cheptegei, 33, died of her injuries after being set alight by her boyfriend.
October 6: The Fastest World Cup final match scorer, Johan Neeskens died, aged 73. He achieved the goal feat in the 1974 final match when he converted a penalty kick for The Netherlands against West Germany after 90 seconds of kick-off.
At the time, no West German player had even touched the ball! Neeskens was a midfielder and was considered one of the best of his generation.
October 13: The life-saving efforts for former Nigerian international goalkeeper, Peter Fregene, ended this day. He was aged 77, when he died surrounded by his wife and two of his children.
Fregene, was a member of the Nigerian team at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.
He last played for Nigeria on 13 March 1982 when Nigeria lost 3-0 to Zambia in a Group B AFCON match in Benghazi.
For years, he had been battling with illness and spent the last week on life-support.
November 20: Nigerian sports journalist, Dapo Sotuminu a celebrated Nigerian sports journalist whose illustrious career spanned several decades died after a brief illness, leaving behind a profound legacy.
His contributions were deeply mourned by the Lagos State Government, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Family United by Sports and the Lagos State chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), who recognized his instrumental role in the growth and promotion of sports journalism and development in Nigeria.
His life was marked by resilience, passion, and a commitment to excellence, making him a beacon of inspiration for the next generation of sports journalists. His impact will remain indelible in the annals of Nigerian sports journalism.
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From flags to a life-size statue, images and homages to Pope Francis were visible all around the Pedro Bidegain stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday as his beloved San Lorenzo de Almagro soccer team took to the field for the first time since the pontiff’s death.
Players wore jerseys with images of the late Pope along with the words “Together for Eternity,” as a remembrance for the passion Francis showed the team throughout his life, even remaining a member during his 12-year papacy.
A view shows a shirt of the San Lorenzo de Almagro, Pope Francis’ hometown soccer team, with a badge with an image of him and a message reading “together for eternity”, on the day of an Argentine first division match against Rosario Central, following the death of the pontiff, at the Pedro…
“The Pope is from Boedo,” fans chanted before the kickoff, unfurling Vatican-coloured
yellow-and-white flags. The club, based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, plans to name its new stadium after Pope Francis.
During the halftime show, Scholas Occurrentes, an international organization created by the Pope in 2013 to transform global education, also paid tribute to the pope, who died on Monday at the age of 88.
Jorge Bergoglio inherited his passion for the popular Argentine club from his father and never lost it.
“And may San Lorenzo win,” Bergoglio said shortly after his election in 2013, as part of a series of wishes for his home country.
While he never returned to Argentina as pope, a life-size statue of Francis wearing a scarf with the team’s colors, blue and red, around his neck and overlooked the match against Rosario Central from the sidelines.
The match remained scoreless until the 91st minute when Enzo Copetti scored the lone goal for Rosario Central, handing the pope’s hometown team a 1-0 defeat.
During his years at the Vatican, Francis was named an honorary San Lorenzo member and received several visits from club delegations, including one after the club won the Copa Libertadores in 2014 and presented the trophy to the Catholic leader.
-Reuters
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Diego Maradona was left to suffer in “agony” for at least 12 hours before his death, a forensic expert has told a Buenos Aires court.
Seven medics stand trial as they have been facing accusations of effectively letting the football legend die.
Autopsy revelations, made public for the first time on Thursday, paint a grim picture of Maradona’s final hours at his Buenos Aires home in 2020.
Prosecutors allege his medical team – including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and several doctors and nurses – failed him miserably.
Carlos Cassinelli, director of forensic medicine at the Scientific Police Superintendency, told the court that Maradona’s heart was “completely covered in fat and blood clots,” clear indicators of prolonged agony.
“This was not a patient who should have been left at home,” Cassinelli declared. “His condition had been worsening for days – it was inevitable.”
The autopsy determined Maradona died from acute pulmonary oedema caused by congestive heart failure – a slow, painful decline rather than a sudden collapse.
Witnesses had previously testified that the footballing icon’s face and abdomen were alarmingly swollen in his final days. But, prosecutors said, the medics overseeing his care carried on regardless, showing an outrageous disregard for his deteriorating condition.
Among those on trial is Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s physician, and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, who prescribed the drugs he was taking right up until his death.
The defendants are accused of “homicide with possible intent” – knowingly taking a course of action that could lead to their patient’s death. If convicted, they face between eight and 25 years behind bars.
Maradona, famous worldwide for leading Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986, died at 60 in a private residential complex north of Buenos Aires, just weeks after undergoing brain surgery.
Investigators claim his home care was riddled with negligence, branding it a catalogue of “serious mistakes” that sealed his fate.
The long-delayed trial, expected to last until July, will hear from nearly 120 witnesses – a legal battle set to expose shocking failings in the final chapter of Maradona’s extraordinary life.
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Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, the first foreigner to lead the England national team, died with debts of over 3.8 million pounds ($4.64 million) following years of financial mismanagement.
Eriksson, who died in August last year at the age of 76 having earlier announced that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, left assets worth 4.8 million pounds but owed 8.64 million.
Most of Eriksson’s debts were tax related in the UK, owing 7.25 million pounds to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), according to Swedish media reports.
Eriksson, who managed England between 2001 and 2006, had previously spoken of losing 10 million pounds to a financial adviser and admitted that he had no idea how much money he had or where it was.
-Reuters
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