Following the tragic death of Cameroon international Patrice Ekeng Ekeng, which occurred on the night of Friday, May 6, 2016, President of the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) Issa Hayatou has conveyed condolences on his own behalf, the CAF Executive Committee and the African football family to the bereaved family and the Fédération Camerounaise de Football.

“It is extremely difficult to find words to understand such a brutal tragedy” the CAF President remarked after the latest drama to hit African football.

The defensive midfielder fell to the ground without any contact with another player in the 70th minute of the game against Viitorul Constanta, just seven minutes after coming on as a substitute for his club Dinamo Bucuresti in a league match on Friday, May 6, 2016. He was transported and resuscitated at the hospital, and within two hours the medical staff confirmed he died. Medical sources point the cause to cardiac related.

Ekeng, 26, was in the squad for the final tournament of the Orange AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea. In 2009, he was a member of the Cameroon U-20 team that lost to Ghana in the final of the U-20 AFCON in Rwanda, and went on to play at the FIFA U-20 World Cup later the same year in Egypt.