The sudden death of a popular Russian Premier League coach has mystified his colleagues and friends, with Russia boss Valeri Karpin and Zenit striker Artem Dzyuba among those to voice their shock.
Igor Gamula, 61, had joint Ukrainian and Russian citizenship and most recently worked for top-flight side Rostov, who he also managed in 2014.
Details on Gamula’s death are unclear, with friend Roman Oreshchuk telling RIA Novosti that there is “no specific information” after the former midfielder’s daughter “sounded the alarm first”.
“Now the police and doctors are working [on it],” said Oreshchuk, speculating on whether the cause could have been hypoglycemic shock. “Everything happened suddenly.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of Igor Gamula, who has sadly passed away. <br><br>The former Rostov manager was 61 years old, his cause of death is yet unknown 🙏 <a href="https://t.co/aAznR9A9t4">https://t.co/aAznR9A9t4</a></p>— Russian Football News (@RusFootballNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/RusFootballNews/status/1468482103574630405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
Former Spartak Moscow player Maxim Kalinichenko remarked that similar deaths have been happening “very often lately”.
“Appreciate every minute of your life – love it as [he] loved it,” he said. “[This was] too early and very unexpected. Rest in peace, coach.”
A fellow manager, Stanislav Stanislavsky, revealed that he had spoken to Gamula just days ago.
“As far as I know, he was not sick,” he said. “This is definitely not [related to] coronavirus. [It was] most likely a heart [problem].”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of former Rostov manager Igor Gamula, who has sadly passed away. <br><br>The thoughts of everyone at Spartak are with Rostov and all those connected to Mr. Gamula 🙏</p>— FC Spartak Moscow (@fcsm_eng) <a href="https://twitter.com/fcsm_eng/status/1468505639806816263?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
Russia boss Valeri Karpin said: “I can’t believe it, [it’s] just a shock. It cannot be. We will miss you very much. Sincere condolences to family and friends.”