A player of South Africa's top football club Mamelodi Sundowns was killed in a car accident near Johannesburg on Monday night, the club confirmed on Tuesday.

 

Gift Leremi, 22, died at around 9 PM (1900 GMT) on Monday after he lost control of his car and was flung out of the vehicle, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.

 

The public broadcaster quoted Mamelodi Sundowns CEO Afzal Khan as saying that the midfielder died hours after his return from Cameroon where the team played in an African Confederation Cup match at the weekend.

 

Leremi had also represented South Africa at Under-20, U23 and senior level.

 

He had just started playing for Sundowns, which won the 2005-06 and 2006-07 titles in South Africa's 16-team Premier Soccer League, after spending most of his professional soccer career with Orlando Pirates, a famed Johannesburg club.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2007)