Sol Bamba has passed away
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Souleymane Bamba, former Paris Saint-Germain player, on Saturday 31 August 2024.
An impressively built defender (1.90m, 86kg), Souleymane Bamba joined Paris Saint-Germain's pre-training centre in Verneuil-sur-Seine at the age of 14. He continued his studies and joined the pro squad in 2004, before making his Ligue 1 debut at the age of 19 in a match at Nice (1-1, 28/11/2004).
He then left Paris for a career abroad, in Scotland (Dunfermline, Hibernian), Italy (Palermo), Turkey (Trabzonspor) and above all England, where he made more than 250 official appearances for Leicester, Leeds (with the captain's armband), Cardiff and Middlesbrough. Sol, as he was affectionately known by fans, hung up his boots in 2022 at the age of 37.
With Côte d'Ivoire, his country of origin, he was an indisputable starter in central defence at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (the Elephants lost the final to Zambia, 0-0, 7-8 on penalties, 12/02/2012), and had more than 50 caps to his name.
In 2021, he publicly announced that he was suffering from cancer of the lymphatic system, before embarking on a coaching career with Cardiff (assistant coach) and in Turkey last July with Anaspor, where he suffered a stroke before passing away on Saturday 31 August 2024.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends. We offer them our most sincere condolences and our full support.