Two Nigerian referees die during Cooper Test

some-referees-under cooper test

Tragedy has again struck Nigerian football after two of the country's top referees slumped and died while undergoing a Cooper Test at the Abuja National Stadium Wednesday evening.

President of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), Ahmed Maude, confirmed the passing away of the two referees, Kunle Oyetola from Oyo State and A.B Faloye of Ogun State.

'My secretary has informed me that the referees slumped and died during the Cooper test in Abuja today,' Maude told MTNFootball.com.

Acting secretary-general of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Musa Ahmadu, disclosed to MTNfootball.com that he has been informed about the deaths of the referees.

'I'm in Lagos right now, but I have been told, but I'm still waiting for a formal report on what really happened,' Ahmadu said.

An official of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), who would not want his name in print, further told MTNFootball.com Oyetola was a referee for the Professional League, while Faloye worked in the NPL.

'It's really sad that these men are no more. They left their homes fit and healthy and now they are dead,' mourned the official.

'Everyone knows that the Cooper test is very strenuous, but all the same no one expected these men to lose their lives this way.'

The bodies of the dead referees have since been deposited at the mortuary of the National Hospital in Abuja.