Barely one month after the death of his wife, Gift Atulewa, a former Nigerian youth international, has died at the age of 38 following complications from high blood pressure.
The Delta State Football Association announced the death of Atulewa on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024.
The Delta State Football Association Public Relation Relations Officer, Azuka Chiemeka, confirmed the death of the prolific forward.
According to Chiemeka, Atulewa succumbed to complications from high blood pressure around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, 12 November, 2024.
“We just buried the wife last month, that may have contributed to this development. He has blood pressure issues but he has been managing it, just day before yesterday, the condition became bad and he was taken to the hospital, they noticed he had malaria but aside from that, the blood pressure kept going up, we lost him this morning by 7am,” the Delta State FA spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES.
Azuka reflected on Atulewa’s recent involvement in football, saying, “As we are speaking, there is an ex-international football tournament going on in Delta State and he is part of the ex-Uwei where he comes from, he is part of their team, he scored the first goal of the tournament from his wonderful free kick that he is known for, he scored that goal like three weeks ago when the competition began.”
Additionally, Atulewa had recently returned from Cote d’Ivoire, where he completed a coaching course.
Unfortunately, he won’t be putting to use the certificate obtained.
A talented player, Atulewa began his career with Bayelsa United F.C. before moving to Ocean Boys F.C. and later Warri Wolves F.C., where he featured prominently.
He was a member of the Nigerian U-20 team that participated in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
Sadly, Atulewa becomes the third member of the 2005 U-20 set to pass away, after the death of Olufemi Adebayo and Isaac Promise.
Source: Premium Times
