BBC SPORT | Football | African (original) (raw)

Amr Shaheen
BBC Sport, Cairo

Egypt's Mohamed Abdelwahab died during a training session

Doctors in Egypt have ruled that the death of international defender Mohamed Abdelwahab was the result of heart failure.

The 22-year-old was training with African club champions Ahly when he collapsed after 35 minutes on Thursday.

Club doctor Ehab Ali, who said Abdelwahab's vital signs had stopped almost immediately, said the player had no apparent health problems.

Abdelwahab was rushed to a Cairo hospital but died before arriving.

Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou has extended his condolences to the reigning African club champions over Abdelwahab's untimely death.

"It's with great sadness that we have learnt of the sudden death of Mohamed Abdelwahab who was a brilliant player with the Egyptian national team," Hayatou began.

"I vividly remember his significant role played during the African Cup of Nations Cup final in Cairo early this year.

"It's a loss to Ahly but also to the entire continent."

The Egyptian Football Association said that the gate proceeds from Saturday's African Nations Cup qualifying Group One game against Burundi in Cairo would go to Abdelwahab's family.

Abdelwahab had not played a match since the end of the Egyptian season in May because of a dispute over his registration.

The full-back had been on loan at Ahly for the last two years from Al Dafraa of the United Arab Emirates.

But negotiations over a permanent move back to Cairo had stalled, ruling him out of the start of the new season and Ahly's campaign in the group phase of the African Champions League, which started in July.

A dispute between the two clubs was due to be heard by Fifa next month.