Ivorian defender, Sol Bamba, dies aged 39

Tributes have been pouring in for former Ivory Coast defender, Sol Bamba, who has died at the age of 39.

Turkish club Adanaspor, where he was technical director, made the announcement on Saturday saying he had fallen ill before a match the day before.

Bamba made 46 appearances for his country, representing it at the 2008 Olympics and in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

He also played for the likes of Cardiff City, Leeds United, and Leicester City and had spells at Italian side Palermo, Scottish clubs Dunfermline Athletic and Hibernian, and Turkish side Trabzonspor.

In a post on X, Cardiff City which Bamba helped to clinch promotion to the Premier League in his first full season, described him as “a true gentleman” and called his impact on it “immeasurable”.

Leeds United posted on the social media platform that everyone was “devastated” to learn the news of his passing saying he was “one of the nicest people in football’.

Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 while at Cardiff, but was declared cancer-free after a course of chemotherapy.

He returned to play for two English clubs before retiring in January 2023.

Bamba then went on to coach, first as assistant manager at Cardiff before taking up the post of technical director at Adanaspor.

His wife, Chloe, also paid tribute to him on Instagram saying while he fought the cancer head on with stoicism, it was never a fair fight.

“These years have been indescribably difficult but we still managed to find joy and laughter in it,” she said, adding that it had been an “honour to have loved and been loved by Sol”.