Burundian Midfielder Pappy Fatty has tragically died in Swaziland after collapsing on the pitch while playing for Melanti FC of Eswatini on Thursday afternoon.
In January the 28-year-old was advised to stop playing football due to his heart condition and as a result his contract at South Africa National First Division side Real Kings was terminated.
After the contract was terminated he resurfaced in Swaziland and in an interview he said he decided not to go for an interview but use traditional African medicine (Muti)
“I decided not to go to the operation because it wasn’t a good idea. I’m using a normal muti, African muti. That’s why I have [played] three games nothing happened,” Faty told Kickoff. com
The Burundi international, had a history of heart complications having previously collapsed during a friendly match while playing for Wits in Johannesburg in December 2015.
Here a a few other footballers who also passed on while playing the beautiful game..
Dani Jarque
Daniel ‘Dani’ Jarque spent his entire senior career at La Liga club Espanyol, having joined them in 2001. Playing as defender, Jarque was named the side’s captain just one month prior to his untimely death in 2009.
The player, who was 26 years old at the time, fell ill and passed out at the team’s training base in Coverciano during Espanyol’s pre-season tour in Italy. Despite the medical team’s best efforts to revive him, Jarque passed away just one day before the Spanish side were due to play Bologna.
The news hit all of Spain quite hard and Barcelona star Andres Iniesta was left traumatized for almost a year after Jarque’s passing. The winger won the FIFA World Cup for Spain a year later, scoring the only goal in the final against Holland. His goal celebration would demonstrate an undershirt with the words “Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros” (Dani Jarque, always with us) written on the front.
Marc-Vivien Foe
Marc Vivien-Foe was a Cameroon international, who played for Lens, Lyon, West Ham and also had a loan spell at Manchester City.
He died on June 26th, 2003 after collapsing during a FIFA Confederations Cup match between Cameroon and Colombia. Foe, who was 28 years old at the time, fell to the ground in the 72nd minute of the match and was stretchered off after attempts to revive him were made out on the pitch.
Medical staff tried both oxygen and CPR and 45 minutes were spent trying to get him back, yet efforts proved futile. He was taken to the medical centre in Gerland Stadium in Lyon, still alive, but passed away moments after.
The cause of death was not known at the time, but a second autopsy revealed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition known to increase the likelihood of sudden death during any intense physical activity.
Andres Escobar
The most brutal and shocking of them all, the death of Colombian star Andres Escobar, in 1994, shook the world to its core.
Escobar played for Atletico Nacional and Young Boys in his native land, also representing the Colombian national side on 51 occasions. He was the nation’s poster boy and meant even more to the people of his poor hometown Medellin. But things took a horrible turn during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
In a match against USA, the defender helped the ball into his own net after mistiming a slide meant to cut off a pass and USA won 2-1.
Upon return to Colombia, despite several warnings not to, Escobar would meet up with friends on the night of July 1st, 1994 and visit two bars. After he and his friends split up, the 27-year-old was left alone in the parking lot of El Indio bar around 3am when he was approached by three men and a woman.
An argument ensued and Escobar protested, claiming that the own goal was a mistake, yet two of the men proceeded to pull out guns and shoot him. The player was shot six times and was left to bleed out in the parking lot while the men sped away in a truck.
Subsequent reports claimed that one of the killers had shouted “Gol!” after every shot, mocking the South American commentator who sat at the aforementioned match.
Escobar’s funeral was attended by over 120,000 people. After his murder, several players quit the national team, with some retiring from the game altogether.