Former Cardiff City captain and Ivorian defender Sol Bamba has tragically passed away at the age of 39. The ex-Ivory Coast international, who also had stints with Leicester City, Leeds United, and Middlesbrough, fell ill before a match in Turkey on Friday and was subsequently hospitalized.
Adanaspor, the Turkish club where Bamba had been head coach since the summer, announced his passing on Saturday evening. In their statement, they expressed, "Our Technical Director Souleymane Bamba, who fell ill before the Manisa Football Club match yesterday, was taken to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital, where he unfortunately lost his battle for life. Our condolences to his family and our community."
In January 2021, Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but he announced he was cancer-free just four months later. He reunited with Neil Warnock at Middlesbrough later that year, spending 18 months in the northeast. After retiring, Bamba shifted his focus to coaching, returning to Cardiff as assistant manager in 2023. He joined Adanaspor over the summer, a team that finished 14th in the Super Lig last season.