Ekeng ‘felt tired’ before collapse

Ekeng had previously played for Le Mans and Cordoba

The sister of Patrick Ekeng, who died after collapsing while playing for Dinamo Bucharest, claims he said he was “feeling very tired” before the game.

Cameroon’s Ekeng, 26, fell to the floor in the 70th minute of the televised Romanian league match against Viitorul and was pronounced dead in hospital two hours later.

“He told his best friend he was not able to play,” Monique Chantal, Ekeng’s elder sister, told BBC Sport.

“He said he was very tired.”

She added: “Patrick was very generous, a gentleman. It is very painful he is leaving behind a family – it is like a dream, a nightmare.”

Celine Chemi, Ekeng’s mother, said: “It is difficult to talk about my son at this moment, but I believe in God and submit to his will.

“If this is football and the life of professional players then this calls for reflection.”

Fifpro, the world footballers’ union, and its Romanian member union Afan, are concerned about the level of first-aid treatment available to Ekeng.

Afan said that after the death of …

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