Rigobert Song: I am alive and strong

Former Cameroon international Rigobert Song has reacted to rumours that announced him ‘dead’ on Friday, with photos of him in an hospital bed circulating on social media.

“I am surprised to hear those reports about me that I’m dead. I am alive and very strong and in top form,” Song told Voxafrica. “I would like to tell those people to stop those jokes and information without truth and proof. I don’t know why and who are behind those rumours. I am simply alive and not dead,” the former defender said.

Song is currently the coach of Cameroon home-based national team who have qualified for the 2018 African Nations Championship. This is not the first time rumours of the demise of the former Liverpool and West Ham United player are sending shockwaves across the African continent. In October 2016, he suffered a brain aneurysm and was in coma in a Yaoundé hospital for few days before being flown to France for further treatment.

Photos of his hospital condition were leaked and used as the basis of rumours that he had passed, with some portals even reporting how his family was planning funeral arrangements.

Song holds the most cap record of the Indomitable Lions with 137 appearances, scoring 5 goals.  He won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations titles with Cameroon.