Footballer Jody Lukoki died unexpectedly at age 29

Jody Lukoki passed away at age 29. The cause of his death is still unknown. The various football clubs he played for and the football association KNVB posted condolences on social media.

FC Twente, Lukoki's current club, received the news on Monday morning. "The club is shocked and deeply moved by this event," FC Twente said on Twitter. "FC Twente sympathizes with his loved ones and wishes them a lot of strength in processing this great loss."

Lukoki's agent Menno Groeveled of PURE Sportsmanagement said he was shocked by the news, AD reports. "We as an agency are deeply shocked by this. The exact cause of death is not yet known to us. The family is in shock and devastated. Jody was a very happy guy and had almost recovered from his injury. For now, I would like to leave it at that, and I would also like to ask journalists to leave the situation and to give his family and friends space to process this," he said in a statement.

Lukoki trained through Ajax's youth academy and was under contract with the Amsterdam team until 2014, including some time playing for SC Cambuur. In 2014, PEC Zwolle took over the attacker. He earned a transfer to the Bulgarian Lodogrets Razgrad a year later. He left there in 2020 after three national titles. In the 2020/2021 season, Lukoki played in Turkey for Yeni Malatyaspor. And in the current season, he returned to the Netherlands to play for FC Twente. But due to a ligament injury, he did not actually play a match for the Enschede team. FC Twente and Lukoki split ties in February after the footballer was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.