Tears as One Dies, Several Players Injured in Ghastly Nigerian Football Academy Road Crash
- A female player from the Ayisat Yusuf Football Academy died after the team's vehicle was involved in a road accident while heading to a league fixture
- The team was travelling from Ikenne, Ogun State, to a match in Ijesha, Lagos State, when the crash occurred
- Academy CEO and former Super Falcons assistant coach Ayisat Yusuf confirmed the tragedy and appealed for public support for the injured players and bereaved family
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One player has died and several others were injured after the Ayisat Yusuf Football Academy's vehicle was involved in a serious road accident while the team was travelling to a league match, the academy confirmed.
The team had set out from Ikenne, Ogun State, bound for the Olympic Pitch in Sanya, Ijesha, Lagos State, where they were scheduled to play a fixture.
Source: Instagram
According to The Nation, the crash occurred along the route.
Academy management said a female player died at the scene, while multiple other players and the team's driver sustained injuries of varying severity and were taken to hospital.
Some are currently undergoing critical medical assessment.
Academy CEO breaks silence on the tragedy
Ayisat Yusuf, the academy's founder and chief executive officer and a former Nigerian international who also serves as an assistant coach with the Super Falcons, issued a statement expressing grief over the loss, per Premium Times.
"As a family, this is a moment of immense pain for us. Beyond being members of a football team, these girls are our children, our family and a huge part of everything we have built together. Losing one of them is a pain that is difficult to put into words," the statement read.
Yusuf did not name the player who died or give further details about how the accident happened.
She added that the academy's heart was "particularly heavy" for the family of the deceased, saying the girls represented far more than athletes under the club's care.
The academy extended its condolences to the bereaved family and said it was praying for them to find strength and comfort in this period.
Injured players and driver receiving medical care
Yusuf confirmed that some of the players who survived the crash required urgent medical attention and that further investigations into their conditions were ongoing.
The academy said it would stand fully behind both the injured players and the team driver throughout their recovery.
She appealed to Nigerians, sports stakeholders, partners, and members of the public to keep the academy, the injured players, and the family of the deceased in their thoughts and prayers.
The academy thanked those who had already reached out with support and promised to share further updates on the condition of those receiving treatment.
The tragedy comes barely two weeks after another Nigerian football team suffered a similar ordeal.
On October 15, Nigeria National League club Crown FC were involved in a road accident while travelling to a pre-season tournament.
No players were killed at the scene, but the club's driver, 54-year-old Yinusa Popoola Amole, died later that night from severe injuries he sustained in the crash.
11 injured as team bus crashes
In a related development, Legit.ng reported at least 11 people were hurt after a bus carrying members of Ghanaian Division Two club Koforidua City FC crashed at Saforo in the Eastern Region of Ghana on Sunday, November 1, 2026, while the team was on its way to a league match.
The vehicle had 20 players, three club officials, the driver and his assistant on board at the time of the road accident.
Source: Legit.ng
