How Ghana held state funeral for footballer, Christian Atsu (PHOTOS)

Hundreds of people gathered outside State House in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Friday for the funeral of footballer, Christian Atsu, who died last month in the earthquake in Turkey.

Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, was also present.

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Atsu’s widow, Marie-Claire Rupio, was overcome with emotion as she paid tribute to her husband.

The 31-year-old spent most of his career playing in the English Premier League for clubs including Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton.

Ghana’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Hamid, said: “The painful loss of our brother, Christian Atsu has undoubtedly created indelible imprints on the minds and hearts of compatriots, team-mates, friends, families and the nation.

“The government and Ghanaians in general will continue to remember Christian Atsu as one of the committed, dedicated and results-oriented youth and a football star of our time.”

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Atsu was part of the Ghana squad at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and was player of the tournament at the 2015 African Cup of Nations, scoring two goals to help Ghana to the final, where they lost in a penalty shootout to Ivory Coast.

Atsu began his career with Porto, also spending a season on loan at Rio Ave. In 2013, he was signed by Chelsea for £3.5 million, who subsequently loaned him to Vitesse Arnhem, Everton, AFC Bournemouth and Málaga.

After spending the 2016–17 season on loan at Newcastle United, he completed a permanent transfer to the club in May 2017.

Following the end of his four-year contract he played for Al Raed in Saudi Arabia and Hatayspor in Turkey, where he died in the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake at age 31.

See photos of the funeral below

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