Sunday, April 18, 2010

KESSBEN PLAYER BURIED (GRAPHIC NSEMPA, SPREAD, APRIL 19, 2010)

By Kwame Asare Boadu, Kumasi

HUNDREDS of football enthusiasts from all over the country converged on the Heroes’ Park at the Baba Yara Stadium recently to pay their last respect to Kessben FC’s defender Bartholomew Yeboah, who collapsed and died in a league game in Accra on March 7, this year.
As the late Yeboah’s colleagues and club officials including Kessben FC’s President, Mr Kwabena Kesse, filed past his mortal remains, which was dressed in club attire, they broke down in tears.
The body was later buried at his hometown, Akrokerri in the Ashanti Region.
Before the burial, a memorial service was held at the Heroes’ Park at the Baba Yara Stadium where the body was laid in state.
Ghanaian football was thrown into a state of mourning when Yeboah, a budding 20-year-old defender of Kessben FC, collapsed on the pitch in a league match against Liberty Professionals in Accra on March 7 and died the next morning at hospital.
The defender collapsed with seven minutes of play remaining during Kessben’s 4-0 defeat of Liberty Professionals, but could not survive after being rushed to hospital.
His death came as a huge tragedy not only to Kessben FC but also to the game in Ghana and indeed Africa. During the funeral service, tributes poured in from his club, family, the Professional League Board (PLB), the Ghana Football Association, (GFA) among others.
 They all expressed shock at the death of the young man who was a great hope to his family.
 Players of Liberty Professionals came down from Accra to mourn with the bereaved family.

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