Former Senegalese Midfielder Bouba Diop Has Passed Away

Papa Bouba Diop (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The iconic former Senegalese midfielder, Papa Bouba Diop, has died at the age of 42.

The news of Diop's death was greeted with condolences conveyed by FIFA through one of their official Twitter accounts, @FIFAWorldCup.

"FIFA condolences to hear of the death of Senegalese legend Papa Bouba Diop. Forever a World Cup hero," FIFA tweeted on Sunday.

There has been no official statement about the cause of Diop's death, but various media reports that the former Fulham and RC Lens player has been ill for a long time.

Bouba Diop went down in history as the inaugural goal scorer at the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea & Japan, to help Senegal overthrow defending champions France 1-0.

Bouba Diop also scored two more goals in their final 3-3 tie against Uruguay helping Senegal to win Group A then and progress to the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Turkey in extra time.

Despite playing the main role as a defensive midfielder, Bouba Diop has also played a central role in his career.

Starting his career in his own country defending ASC Diaraf, Diop moved to Europe from Switzerland in 1999 and spent nearly three years at Vevey, Neuchatel Xamax and Grasshoppers before being brought by RC Lens to France in January 2002.

Then in 2004 Diop was bought by Fulham from Lens and for four seasons defending the London club, even being nominated for the club's annual internal player of the year in the 2005/06 season.

Diop then defended Portsmouth, moved to Greece for AEK Athens, returned to West Ham United and hung up his boots after the 2012/13 season wearing the Birmingham City shirt as his last club.