The Nigeria Football Federation have announced the death of another member of the 1980 Nations Cup winning squad, Charles Bassey on Sunday.
The Federation said it is ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of another member of the Charles Bassey, who died at the age of 71.
It would be recalled that the captain of the team, Christian Chukwu died on Saturday to mark a sad day for Nigerian football.
Bassey passed on after a protracted illness in his native town of Eket, Akwa Ibom State, hours after it was confirmed that the captain of that team, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwuemeka Chukwu, had passed on in Enugu.
The Nigeria Football Federation confirmed on Sunday with a statement on their website.
The statement reads: “This has been a day of double tragedy, and the NFF and the entire Nigeria football fraternity are deeply saddened by the turn of events. We lost ‘Chairman’ Chukwu earlier in the day; now, we have to mourn Charles Bassey. May God Almighty grant their souls eternal rest.”
In 2019, Bassey revealed he had suffered a “nerve root compression” in his spinal cord following a car accident in 1986.
In 2021, Bassey said the Femi Otedola Foundation funded his spinal cord surgery.
Charles Bassey, who played as a forward, was in the 22-man squad that became Nigeria’s first Africa Cup of Nations champions, after a 3-0 defeat of Algeria’s Fennecs at the National Stadium, Surulere on Saturday, 22nd March 1980.
Afterwards, he coached various clubs within the country, including Calabar Rovers, home-town club Mobil Pegasus, BCC Lions of Gboko, Flash Flamingoes of Benin, Akwa United and Wikki Tourists of Bauchi.
Nine members of the 1980 Nations Cup winning squad have now passed on following the deaths of goalkeepers Best Ogedegbe and Moses Effiong, defenders Christian Chukwu, Okechukwu Isima and Tunde Bamidele, midfielders Aloysius Atugbu and Mudashiru Lawal and forward Martins Eyo.
