CAIRO: Egyptian international defender Mohamed Abdel Wahab died after collapsing on the training field on Thursday, club officials said. The 22-year-old, a member of the Egyptian side that won the African Nations Cup finals in February, was pronounced dead before arriving at hospital, his club Al Ahli added. Abdel Wahab, who would have turned 23 on October, had been training for some 35 minutes before collapsing. He was not involved in a clash with another player and was immediately rushed to hospital, club spokesman Gamal Gabr told Reuters The cause of death is not yet known. Abdel Wahab had not played a match since the end of the Egyptian season in May because of a dispute over his registration. The fullback had been on loan at Al Ahli for the last two years from Al Dafraa of the United Arab Emirates. But negotiations over a permanent move back to Cairo had stalled, ruling him out of the start of the new season and Al Ahli s campaign in the group phase of the African Champions League, which started in July. A dispute between the two clubs was due to be heard by FIFA next month, officials added. His inactivity had also seen him lose his place in the Egyptian national side, who are preparing for an African Nations Cup qualifier against Burundi in Cairo on Saturday.
Wahab s death comes three years after Cameroon international midfielder Marc Vivien Foe collapsed and died during a 2003 Confederations Cup semi-final in France. The 28-year-old Foe s death resulted in FIFA introducing new health measures at the 2006 World Cup where for the first time all the players from the 32 participating nations underwent medical checks for potential heart defects. Agencies
