'Cursed' amateur German club mourns deaths

Sports
By AFP | Mar 27, 2017

A German sports club is mourning the deaths of two amateur sportsmen who suffered heart attacks on successive days, leaving team-mates wondering if the club is cursed.

Last Wednesday, 24-year-old footballer Hannes Rumpker suffered a heart attack while training with his local team in the north-west German town of Edewecht, near Bremen, and later died in hospital.

The club, VfL Edewecht, called off a regional league match out of respect.

Then on Thursday, Arne Hobbie, 33, who played for and ran the club's basketball team, Edewecht Wattworms, also suffered a heart attack while training.

He was revived by emergency services, but later died in hospital.

Like the grieving footballers before them, the mourning basketball team also called off a key match, which would have decided promotion.

The tiny town of Edewecht, which has a population of 21,000, is in shock.

"For us, the whole thing is still completely surreal," Hobbie's team-mate Henning von Aschwege told regional newspaper Nordwest Zeitung.

"After the death of Hannes, it's like a curse is hanging over us."

Club official Ute Meinen added: "We have never experienced such a thing before.

"We do not really know how to deal with the situation."

Share this story
Thunder plot Equity Bank raid as Premier League tips off
The bankers will take on ANU Wolfpacks in their second encounter on Sunday.
Future Boxing Championships offer Kenyan boxers lessons
What it means for Kenyan teams’ participation in the inaugural Future’s Boxing Championships in Thailand.
Why Faith Kipyegon is making waves after winning 10km debut
Kipyegon, who is nicknamed the smiling assassin, is following in the footsteps of her training mates, among them two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge.
Recall times of Shikanda, Stars' diminutive defender
On May 26, 2007, Kenya, then coached by Jacob Ghost Mulee, played Nigeria in an international friendly match at Kasarani.
Kenya Army, KPA and Equity win as league second leg gets underway
Kenya Army launched their 2025-2026 KVF Men’s National League campaign with a 3-1 win against the NYS, as the second leg served off yesterday at Kasarani Indoor Arena.
.
RECOMMENDED NEWS