The former Dunfermline player died in hospital in Turkey

Turkish club Adanaspor, where he was working as a technical director, announced last night (Saturday) that he had fallen ill and passed away in hospital.

As well as the Pars, Bamba played for Hibs, Leicester City, Leeds United, Cardiff City and Middlesbrough, as well as Trabzonspor in Turkey and Palermo in Italy.

The popular centre back made 46 appearances for the Ivory Coast and three years ago he successfully battled cancer.

A statement from Adanaspor said: "Our technical director Souleymane Bamba, who fell ill before yesterday's match against Manisa Football Club, was taken to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital and sadly lost his battle for life.

"Our condolences go out to his family and our community."

Former Pars centre back Sol Bamba has sadly died at the age of 39. (Image: DAFC)

A statement from Dunfermline Athletic said: "Everyone at DAFC is shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of former player Sol Bamba.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and team mates at this tragic time."

Former Pars skipper, Scott Thomson, posted: "Couldn’t believe the news when I heard it late last night.

"A great lad and always willing to learn and improve, which he did and when time was right moved on from Pars to have a well deserved fantastic career in the game.

"Great character in the dressing room, always smiling and joking but knew when to switch and become a fierce competitor in both training and games.

"Will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him and got to know him. My thoughts are with all of Sol’s family and friends at this sad time.

"I will miss that big smile and the odd text/messages we used to send to one another over the years." 

Jim Leishman brought the centre back to Dunfermline from Paris St Germain in the summer of 2006.

Bamba spent just over two years at East End - which included playing in the 2007 Scottish Cup final defeat against Celtic - before leaving for Hibs in 2008 for a reported £50,000, with the Pars negotiating a 10-per-cent sell on clause. 

In January 2021, when he playing at Cardiff City, he revealed he was receiving treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Sol had successfully battled cancer in 2021, overcoming Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after gruelling chemotherapy. (Image: DAFC)

At that time, Leishman had told Press Sport: “For me, he was just top class. I didn’t get any trouble from him; I took a chance at the time and he never let me down.

“The ex-England manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, said that, when he was at Leicester, Sol Bamba was the best debut he’d ever seen. That’s a big tribute to Sol.

“Sometimes he had the odd mistake, the odd bad game, but the majority of games he was really good for us.

“He definitely had a talent; he was an athlete, big, strong, good in the tackle, good in the air.

“He looked good in training but he was only a young man at the time so it was a risk. But he was great."