Cameroon legend Abega dies

Former Cameroon footballer Theophile Abega has died of a heart attack in Yaounde at the age of 58, the Cameroon Football Federation said.

The former Canon Yaounde and Toulouse midfielder retired from professional football in 1987 to begin a career in politics, going on to become the Mayor of Yaounde, which he remained until his death.

Abega captained the Indomitable Lions to their first Africa Cup of Nations victory in 1984 and was also a member of the squad that participated in the 1982 World Cup.

He was selected by CAF in 2006 as one of the 200 best African footballers of the last 50 years.

A statement did not give the cause of death but Cameroon news reports said Abega had suffered cardiac arrest.