Sam Okoye (1 May 1980 – 31 August 2005) was a Nigerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who represented

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

during the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams that ...

Death

Four months after his 25th birthday, whilst living in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, he reportedly died there after a few days illness. The cause and circumstances of his death have not been adequately elucidated and Iranian authorities did not release his remains for repatriation and burial in Nigeria until May 2006. The duo of Daniel Olerum and Sunny Okoye disclosed from the Iranian capital, Tehran that officials of Sorkh Poushan FC have agreed to foot the flight bills of the late footballer.

References

1980 births 2005 deaths Footballers from Lagos Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Rangers International F.C. players Enyimba F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Men's association football goalkeepers {{Nigeria-footy-goalkeeper-stub