Olubayo Adefemi dies in
car accident: Tragedy befell Nigerian
football on Monday when the Nigeria
Football Federation confirmed that
Super Eagles ’ youthful defender,
Olubayo Adefemi had died in a car
crash in Greece. The 25_year old
right back, who could also play as a
midfielder, died when he lost control
of the car he was driving on the road
from his base, Xanthi to Thessaloniki,
where he was to board a flight to
Nigeria to finalize plans for his
wedding programme. His manager,
Miguel Riera, who spoke to the NFF
hierarchy on phone from Xanthi on
Monday morning, said the accident
occurred at about 7am Nigeria time
as Olubayo attempted to make good
use of the one-week break granted
by his Greek top club, Xanthi Skoda
to travel to Nigeria to finalize his
marriage plans.
“This is very sad. I am very sad to
confirm to you that Olubayo is dead.
There is no doubt about it. I am at
the hospital and I have identified the
body. The autopsy will be out in a
few hours, but there is no doubt that
he has died ”, said Miguel Riera. The
cool-headed defender was one of the
so-called ‘Siasia boys’, showing
remarkable consistency all the way
from being a key member of the
Nigeria U-20 side that won the FIFA
World Cup silver in The Netherlands
in 2005 and playing regularly with
the U-23 side that reached the final of
the 2008 Olympics Men’s Football
Tournament in China. He even
scored one of the goals in the semi
final defeat of Belgium.
January 27, 2010, 07:18:50 AM