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

Marc-Vivien Foe's death sparked national mourning in Cameroon

Football's world governing body Fifa will commemorate the death of Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe at the Confederations Cup final on Sunday.

Foe collapsed on the field and lost consciousness during a Confederations Cup semi-final in France in 2003 and died soon after arriving in hospital.

He was later found to have suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart-related disease. He was 28.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said it was a "very sad and tragic event".

Blatter added: "Just before the kick-off when the teams are assembled in the middle of the field, we will have a message to the world about what happened.

"What has come out of it is that football learnt about cardiological diseases.

"One of the legacies of Marc-Vivien Foe's unfortunate death and having the World Cup in Africa is that Fifa is providing medical care and aid where we possibly can."

Foe died when he was making his 64th international appearance.

He played at club level for Manchester City and Racing Lens, among other sides. City retired the number 23 shirt he wore, while at their new Eastlands stadium there is a small memorial garden for him.

Racing Lens renamed an avenue near their Felix Bollaert Stadium after him and he was given a state funeral in Cameroon.