Is our medical screening of players sound?
Cameroonian international Patrick Ekeng lies on pitch after he collapsed during the football match between Dinamo Bucharest and Viitorul Constanta in Bucharest May 6, 2016. Dinamo Bucarest football club announced that Ekeng died after collapsing on the pitch. PHOTO | STRINGER |
What you need to know:
- Sam Okwaraji collapsed on the pitch at the Sulurele Stadium in Lagos and later died of congestive heart failure.
- Cameroonian international Marc-Vivien Foe died in 2003 while playing against Colombia.
- While undergoing a medical check up in 1997, Nwankwo Kanu was diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition.
- The brave Kanu chose the knife and his career blossomed after that.
His name was Sam Okwaraji and was one of the finest ever to don the green jersey of the Green Eagles, as the Nigerian national football team was then called.
For those of us who grew up on the staple of Football Made in Germany back in the day, Saturdays were made even better if you got to watch the man ply his trade with the top Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.
Away from the football pitch, Okwaraji was also an academic giant holding under his belt a Masters Degree in International Law and had also enrolled for a doctorate degree in the same. Talking to many Nigerians, they still remember the man for his exploits on the field and the love he had for his country.
Okwaraji, who made the Green Eagles squad in 1988 at the African Nations Cup in Morocco, scored one of the fastest goals in the history of African football against Nigeria’s perennial rivals, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. He played his heart out and was named man of the match.
Then the worst happened. Playing for his country against Angola in an African Cup of Nations qualifier in August 1989, Okwaraji collapsed on the pitch right in front of his adoring fans at the iconic Sulurele Stadium in Lagos. He died shortly after of congestive heart failure.
I remembered this story when I read of the death about two weeks ago of Cameroon international Patrick Ekeng who collapsed on the pitch playing for his club Dinamo Bucharest. This also brought to memory the sad death of yet another Cameroonian international Marc-Vivien Foe in 2003 while playing against Colombia.
Then there is the miraculous survival of Nigerian great Kanu Nwanko. While undergoing a medical check up in 1997, Kanu was diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition.
It was literally a matter of life and death when he was faced with the stark reality of undergoing a delicate operation so as to continue playing football or stop the game altogether and live longer. The brave Kanu chose the knife and his career blossomed after that.
Reading about all these stories I am left wondering how well equipped are our local football administrators to deal with such an emergency. Do we have the capacity to carry out full medical examination for our players?
Second, how prepared are we on match days to handle a situation where a player collapses on the pitch and getting them to hospital in good time? Food for thought for our football administrators.
