ABUJA STADIUM TRAGEDY: Zambian doctor may have died of cardiac arrest
First-hand eyewitnesses dismissed the earlier report that Kabungo was beaten severally as “Totally false and misleading with no iota of truth.”
The FIFA Doping Officer that died at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja Joseph Kabungo may have died of cardiac arrest.
This is according to the CAF Coordinator of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Black Stars of Ghana as well as the Ghana national team medical doctor.
The duo dismissed the earlier report that Kabungo was beaten severally as “Totally false and misleading with no iota of truth.”
Media reports quoting a tweet by Osasu Obayiuwana claimed Kabungo, a physician, lost consciousness after he was beaten and stepped on as fans tried to make their way out of the stadium due to a stampede.
Ghana drew 1-1 with Nigeria to advance to the World on away goal rule.'
Obayiuwana quoting a Ghanaian journalist, Collins Atta Poku, who claimed to have witnessed the ugly scene, wrote “They beat him, he fell and they throded on him. He lost consciousness was rushed to an ambulance closer to the Ghana dressing room for CPR. The entire Ghanaian contingent watched on as resuscitation attempts were made with an oxygen mask. He was taken to hospital later and now this. Sad,”
But the Match Coordinator from CAF and Ghana Team Doctor has dismissed Obayiuwana and Poku’s account as false with no iota of truth.
They revealed that Kabungo slumped while in the Ghanaian changing room to get two players selected for the dope test.
Immediately he was attended to by the Ghana team doctor who was joined by the Nigeria team doctor, the CAF COVID-19 officer and other emergency physicians at the venue.
They also said about five Red Cross trained emergency doctors attended to him.
He was later transferred to the nearest tertiary hospital which was minutes from the MKO Abiola Stadium in an ALS ambulance with a team of physicians.
The president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Andrew Kamanga will not be drawn into the circumstance surrounding the physician’s death.
Speaking to Zambia Observer Newspaper on Wednesday Kamanga said the country had lost one of the game’s leading lights on the continent and beyond.
