Story: Sports Desk 

Former Black Stars forward Raphael Dwamena has died after collapsing on a football pitch on Saturday, Today has learnt.

News of his passing came in the aftermath of the 28-year-old suffering a cardiac arrest during a game between his Albanian side Egnatia Rrogozhine and Partizani.

The tragic incident happened in the 23rd minute of the Superliga Match Day 13 game that forced the game to be suspended.

Dwamena was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2017 and had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) to monitor his heart rate in 2020 during his time with Spanish side Levante.

Despite this medical intervention, Dwamena suffered from a relapse in October 2021 when he collapsed on the pitch in a game involving Blau-Weiss and Harterg in the Austrian League.

However, he survived after he was stabilized quickly and recovered in the hospital; the game was abandoned. He was later released by the club.

His heart condition was the main factor behind his move to Danish Superliga side Velje Boldklub falling through after a deal was agreed with the club’s sporting director expressing concern over Dwamena’s heart measurement.

Dwamena was part of a 30-man Black Stars squad called up for the 2017 AFCON competition but missed out on a spot in the 23-man squad selected for the biannual tournament.

He scored on his international debut in a 2017 AFCON qualifier against Ethiopia under Kwasi Appiah.