Kiev: Former midfielder Andriy Bal, who won four Soviet championships and the 1986 European Cup Winners’ Cup with Dynamo Moscow, died on Saturday while playing football. He was 56.
Local media reports said his death may have been caused by a blood clot.
“Former teammates got together to play football on Saturdays. Andriy was at the practice today but, unfortunately, died right on the pitch,” Bal’s ex-Dynamo Kiev teammate Vadym Evtushenko told the Football 1 channel.
“He died in my arms. There was no tackle, he simply passed the ball and fell down,” Volodymyr Bessonov, another member of the successful Dynamo team of the 1980s, was quoted as telling the ITAR-TASS agency.
After hanging up his boots, Bal worked as assistant coach to Ukrainian football great Oleg Blokhin at several clubs and the Ukraine national team, where he was caretaker in October 2012.
