Former Senegal midfielder Papa Bouba Diop is dead.
Diop died at the age of 42 after a long illness , local media and the West African states’s football federation said on Sunday.
Diop was also part of the team that lost to Cameroon on penalties in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations final.
He won the 2008 FA Cup with Portsmouth in a club career that included stints at French club Lens, Fulham, West Ham United and Birmingham City.
Papa Bouba Diop: 1978 – 2020.
Rest In Peace lion. ♥️🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/UrEY5y3Oit
— CAF (@CAF_Online) November 29, 2020
Victor Cisse, the secretary-general of the Senegalese football federation, confirmed Diop’s death to AFP.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall said on Twitter on Sunday it was a “great loss” for the country.
AFP