“His death leaves a huge gap”
14-year-old footballer collapses in place and dies
01.05.2025 – 10:19 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A tragedy shakes French junior football. A 14-year-old collapses during one game. Now he’s dead.
The French city of Aubervilliers is in shock. The footballer Ousmane Diaby died on Wednesday – at just 14 years. This was announced by his club as Jeunesse Aubervilliers.
“With great grief we announce the tragic death of our beloved Ousmane Diaby, 14 years old,” wrote the club on social media and also explained how it came about. “Last weekend, Ousmane did what he loved the most: playing football,” it said. This then suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.
Afterwards Diaby was revived. A helicopter took him to a hospital in Dijon. But in the end the young athlete could not be saved. “After several days of the struggle for his life, Ousmane died on Wednesday,” wrote AS Jeunesse Aubervilliers.
There were condolences from Hadef Ahmed, among others, the President of the Seine-Saint-Denis football district. “Ousmane embodied the youth, the passion for football and team spirit,” it said in an official message published on Instagram. “His death leaves a huge gap in our sporting community. We share the pain of all those who knew him, loved it and accompanied them both on and next to the field.”
The FCM Aubervilliers, another club from the city, also wrote on Instagram: “It is a day of grief for the city. Losing such a young person on a soccer field breaks our heart.” The association spoke to the family, the relatives as well as the AS Jeunesse Aubervilliers and all mourners “his deepest condolences.”