Cheick Tiote's body flown back to Ivory Coast
An Ivorian fan provides his own farewell to Cheick Tiote in Abidjan on Thursday |
Cheick Tiote's body has been
flown back to Ivory Coast where a private funeral for the Beijing
Enterprises midfielder will take place.
Tiote, who was a member of
the Elephants squad that won the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, collapsed
and died during a training session with his Chinese club last week.
On Tuesday there was a memorial service held in the Chinese capital attended by family, friends and former team-mates.
The
BBC understands that Tiote's family wants him buried in his home town
Yamoussoukro but the Ivory Coast Football Federation prefers Abidjan.
Hundreds
of people, including former Elephants coach Herve Renard, were at
Abidjan's International Airport to receive Tiote's body on Thursday.
Kolo Toure, Gervinho and Siake Tiene were also among the crowd.
Toure
described the former Newcastle United midfielder as "a great player, a
warrior" and said he was "shocked" by his death aged 30.
Ivory Coast players including Gervinho (white shirt) carried Tiote's body when it arrived at the airport in Abidjan |
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