JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African soccer authorities say nine amateur players were killed in a car wreck.
The South African Football Association says the accident happened Sunday in the Eastern Cape province. The players were members of four clubs and were traveling back from a game in the town of Jamestown.
Regional official Beja Maphelo calls the players “good role models” who “always took football seriously and were eager to excel.”
South Africa has a poor road safety record and soccer has experienced similar tragedies recently. In October, national team assistant coach Thomas Madigage was killed in a car accident in the northern Limpopo province. A month later, four players from South Africa’s second-tier league died when their minibus crashed in the same region.
