Papy Faty might have died last Thursday still believing he had been bewitched to cast a black cloud over his football career.
Faty passed away on his way to hospital after collapsing during a league match between his club Malanti Chiefs and Green Mamba in Piggs Peak, Eswatini.
The Burundi international midfielder had earlier been advised to stop playing football due to sudden heart failure he suffered during his stint with Bidvest Wits a few years ago.
READ: Faty chose muti over medical operation
However, Faty defied doctors' orders and went on to sign a contract with Chiefs in January this year.
According to his childhood friend Patrick Bizimana, who was in Mbabane recently to receive the body, Faty suspected witchcraft against him after scans did not show any heart condition when he went for a second opinion.
READ: Faty: I'm not sick anymore
"I remember when they told him first, he was not sure and wanted confirmation," Bizimana told the Swazi Observer.
"We went back to a hospital in Garankuwa [George Mokhari Hospital] a year after his Wits contract was terminated where the doctor said she could not find anything wrong with him. This led us to have suspicions of witchcraft, which we can't confirm."
Faty is expected to be buried in Burundi this week.
