Nigerian footballer Gift Atulewa passed away at the young age of 38. The professional footballer’s cause of death was reported as complications related to high blood pressure.
Delta State Football Association spokesperson Azuka Chiemeka confirmed the news, saying:
“We just buried the wife last month, that may have contributed to this development. He has blood pressure issues, but he has been managing it. Just the day before yesterday, the condition became bad, and he was taken to the hospital.”
“They noticed he had malaria, but aside from that, the blood pressure kept going up. We lost him this morning by 7 a.m.”
He continued, “As we are speaking, there is an ex-international football tournament going on in Delta State, and he is part of the ex-Uwei team where he comes from.”
“He scored the first goal of the tournament with his wonderful free kick that he is known for, about three weeks ago when the competition began.”
Atulewa recently attended a coaching course in Côte d’Ivoire and was hoping to pursue a new career path. However, sadly, this tragic situation occurred instead.
Atulewa ended his career at what may be considered an early age for a footballer, retiring at 32. While he never joined the senior Nigerian national team, he represented Nigeria in the U-20 team during his youth.
