Great tragedy of former Arsenal player, First HIV Case !
Former Arsenal and Londoner Galatasaray Istanbul Emmanuel Eboue has been diagnosed with HIV. The athlete went to England for further investigation.
A number of Ivory Coast representatives have learned of the illness during summer medical examinations held in Cyprus. The player was to become a member of the Turk Ocagi Limasol club and play in unofficial and non-recognized KTTF Super Lig championships in Northern Cyprus.
Eboue is one of the legends of Ivory Coast football and one of the most recognizable players in the country. It is ranked 9th in terms of the number of meetings played in the national team (78 matches). He has also twice had the world championship. For Arsenal he played over 200 times and won the England Cup. He also twice managed to reach the Turkish championship in the colors of Galatasaray Istanbul.
Undoubtedly, this is the first such serious case of HIV in a football player. With the virus that is the main cause of AIDS, many famous sports figures are struggling. basketball player Magic Johnson. Unfortunately, many athletes died prematurely due to complications.
In the interest of fairness, HIV has not been officially confirmed, his agent has only said he faces "medical problems" and tests showed "abnormal blood values".
Per the agent (Tekin Birinci) -
‘Eboue signed for a club and, as a normal procedure, we took him for a medical to check him out.’
‘They found abnormal blood values so they didn’t issue the licence and we took the decision to send him to England to have medical check-ups there.’
‘It’s wrong to say at this point he has HIV. Turkish news reports are wrong. I made it [Eboue’s situation] clear two days ago. Even if it will be true it shouldn’t be published like that.’
Regardless I do wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment and if true it definitely is upsetting.
However HIV when caught early can be very manageable and if a prominent figure such as this can help raise awareness perhaps it can help others get the help they need.