Former Super Eagles player Emmanuel Ebiede has been diagnosed with Hepatitis B, according to his sister Joy.
The 47-year-old has been hospitalised for some time in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Pictures of his protruding stomach went viral on social media on Tuesday night.
A former aspirant for the office of president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) David Doherty has opened an account for donors to assist the ailing retired footballer.
In a post on Facebook titled ‘Save Emmanuel Ebiede Now,’ Doherty said, “Ex-international, Emmanuel Ebiede, is reportedly sick and needs urgent help. One hopes this help comes urgently. We wish one of our celebrated attacking midfielders a speedy recovery.”
Doherty has donated N100,000 for Ebiede’s treatment.
The retired footballer’s younger sibling Joy spoke with PUNCH about Ebiede’s medical condition.
She said, “He is in BMH hospital in Port Harcourt but can’t talk properly now. He’s been here (hospital) since Friday, I came in on Saturday from Bayelsa State to look after him.”
Joy said it was initially thought that he had malaria and typhoid.
“He’s not stooling freely, so I don’t know if that’s the cause of the swollen stomach,” she added.
Joy said Ebiede’s club members have been footing his medical bills.
Ebiede had two caps for the Super Eagles, making his debut under Serbian Bora Milutinovic in the 1-0 win over Iran in a pre-1998 World Cup friendly against Iran on January 28, 1998.
He starred for his boyhood club Sharks of Port Harcourt, Belgian side SC Eendracht Aalst, SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie, and Bayelsa United. He also had spells in the United Arab Emirates and Israel, retiring in 2011.
