MARSEILLE – Former France defender Jean-Pierre Adams has died aged 73 after almost 40 years in a coma, his former club Nimes announced on Monday.
Adams, who made 22 international appearances in the 1970s, slipped into a coma after a mistake by his anaesthetist during routine knee surgery in 1982.
Born in Dakar in 1948, he was one of the first men born in West Africa to play for France.
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His centre-back partnership with Marius Tresor for France was nicknamed "the black guard".
"We learned this morning of the death of Jean-Pierre Adams," Nimes wrote on Twitter, extending their "sincere condolences to his family".
Adams also played for Nice and Paris Saint-Germain.
AFP