Oniya (left) was playing in his first season with Premier league outfit T-Team. - Bernam
PETALING JAYA: T-Team skipper David Faramola Oniya of Nigeria has died after collapsing on the field during a friendly against Super League side Kelantan at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru on Saturday.
Club chief executive officer Syahrizan Mohd Zain said that the T-Team centreback collapsed barely three minutes into the game and was taken to the Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZ II) nearby.
“He was pronounced dead at the hospital about 30 minutes later,” said Syahrizan from Kota Baru.
He said that the 30-year-old Oniya, who was playing in his first season with the Premier League outfit, had barely touched the ball and they were surprised to see him lying on the ground.
“There was no hard running and it was a slow tempo match. It’s only a friendly game. The match was called off in the 60th minute when we received a call from the hospital that Oniya had died,” said Syahrizan.
Kelantan FA manager Azman Ibrahim said they will assist their counterparts in making the necessary arrangements to send Oniya’s remains home.
In March, a 17-year-old student died from bleeding in the brain after he collapsed following a football training session in his school in Banting. The teenager complained of headache during the training and asked to be replaced. The boy collapsed as he was walking to the side of the field.
In 2003, former international Ali Bakar collapsed and died during an international veterans’ match in Singapore.
