Police investigate death of South Africa World Cup player Jayden Adams

By Gerald Imray, Associated Press

Police in South Africa are investigating the death of World Cup footballer Jayden Adams after his body was discovered at a property in Cape Town.

The 25-year-old died two weeks after helping South Africa reach the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time.

Authorities have not released a cause of death.

“Cape Town central police registered an inquest for investigation following the discovery of the body of a 25-year-old male on Saturday,” police said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.

“Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.”

Police said the body was discovered at a property in the Cape Town neighbourhood of Schotsche Kloof at around 11am on Saturday, but gave no more details.

Adams’s father, Juanito Adams, told South African TV news station eNCA on Sunday that the family were waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination and had not made any funeral plans.

“As you all know, it was an untimely death. The family is struggling to process it,” he said.

“It won’t be easy to carry on. People say it will become easier, but it won’t. You just learn to live with it.”

Adams played in all three of South Africa’s group games as the country produced its best performance at the World Cup. He did not feature in the 1-0 loss to Canada in the round of 32 on June 28.

South Africa sports minister Gayton McKenzie said Adams had played in his team’s group game against Czech Republic hours after learning that his grandmother had died.

Mr McKenzie asked the public and media to “exercise restraint and compassion” and not speculate on the cause of Adams’s death while authorities conduct an investigation.

There were moments of silence and tributes for Adams at the England vs Norway and Argentina vs Switzerland World Cup quarter-final games on Saturday.