Former Cardiff and Leeds defender Sol Bamba dies aged 39

Sol Bamba, the former Leeds United and Cardiff City defender, has died at the age of 39.

Bamba was working for Turkish club Adanaspor, who announced the news on Saturday night.

A club statement read: “Our technical director Souleymane Bamba, who fell ill before the match against Manisa Football Club yesterday, was taken to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital and unfortunately lost his battle for life there.

“Our condolences to his family and our community.”

Bamba was a popular figure in British football, where after spells in Scotland with Dunfermline and Hibernian, he played for Leicester City, Leeds, Cardiff and Middlesbrough before retiring in 2022.

The France-born centre-back also won 46 caps for Ivory Coast with whom he finished runner-up in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

In May 2021 Bamba announced that he was cancer-free having been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma earlier that year.

He went on to become assistant manager of Cardiff for a short spell before joining Turkish side Adanaspor this summer.