KOTA BARU: T-TEAM captain David Oniya died at the Raja Zainab II Hospital after collapsing three minutes into a friendly match against Kelantan at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru tonight.
The 30-year-old Oniya, a centreback from Nigeria, was relaxed and did not show any signs of discomfort before the match.
“He suffered a heart attack but it could have been a different story had the ambulance driver was alert. The driver was at the stands watching the game when Oniya suddenly collapsed and our defender was deprived of oxygen for several minutes,” said T-Team chief operating officer Syahrizan Mohd Zain.
The ambulance came onto the field and rushed the unconscious Oniya to the hospital after several minutes. The match was called off in the 60th minute after the Nigerian was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“Oniya was sent to the hospital and the doctors tried their best to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 10.05pm.”