Iran's federation expresses condolences on death of Foe

IRNA - Iran's Football Federation (IFF) Sunday sent a message of condolences on the collapse of Cameroon's player Marc-Vivien Foe to the world soccer's football governing body FIFA.
In the message, the IFF has expressed its sympathy on the sad death of Foe in a semifinal match of Confederations Cup on Thursday.
Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe died on Thursday after collapsing during his country's Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia.
Foe, who spent last season on loan at English premier league Manchester City from French club Olympique Lyon, was carried off on a stretcher after collapsing 15 minutes from the end of the match, won 1-0 by Cameroon.
Alfred Mueller, FIFA's Swiss medical officer for Lyon, told a news conference: "I have to give you very sad information. The player Marc-Vivien Foe has died.
"After he went off the pitch ... we took him to first aid, and the heart stopped in the first aid. The French doctors here did reanimation for 45 minutes and, during this 45 minutes, we had unfortunately absolutely no reaction.
"This is a very sad day for football, for FIFA and for the player's family. This is all we can say at the moment."
Foe, 28, played 65 games for Cameroon and formerly played for West Ham United and RC Lens.
The powerful midfielder missed the 1998 World Cup through injury, but played in all three of Cameroon's games in last year's tournament.
He produced impressive form for Manchester City in the season just finished, but the club decided against paying Lyon 7 million pounds ($11.65 million) to take him to England on a permanent basis.
France retained the Confederations Cup on Sunday when an extra time golden goal by Thierry Henry gave the hosts a 1-0 win over Cameroon in a match dedicated to the memory of Marc-Vivien Foe.
In an emotional post-match presentation, players of both sides stood together by a large poster of the Cameroon midfielder.
The Cameroon players all donned green shirts with Foe's name and number 17 stamped on the back while the 52,000 crowd at the Stade de France chanted Foe's name and applauded.
The evenly-contested match was played in an atmosphere of mutual respect and there were few scoring chances in the first 90 minutes.
Henry's scrambled winner -- the first goal Cameroon conceded in the tournament -- also made the outstanding Arsenal striker its top scorer with four goals.
France, whose presence in the tournament was due to a Euro 2000 crown they also won with a golden goal, gave their fans a lift after the debacle of a 2002 World Cup exit at the group phase.
For Cameroon's Indomitable Lions, both the match and the tournament paled into significance compared to the loss of Foe.
His wife Marie-Louise sat next to FIFA President Sepp Blatter at the game, with Pele and Cameroon's 1990 World Cup striker Roger Milla sitting just behind.