A 20-year-old Nigerian footballer is fighting for his life in a Kaunas hospital after being stabbed multiple times on a street in Alytus, Lithuania, in what the country’s football federation has condemned as a manifestation of racism, Footynaija.com reports.
Chinonso Jeremiah Obi joined FK Dainava in Lithuania’s second division in February 2025, one of dozens of young Nigerian players who have taken the less glamorous route through Eastern Europe in search of a professional career.
On Tuesday morning, he was walking to the team bus meeting point on Naujoji Street ahead of a league trip to face Tauras when a young male, born in 2007, approached him from behind and stabbed him repeatedly in the stomach, buttocks and arm.
Related Post
Reports indicate that passersby and the club’s administrator helped overpower the attacker and hold him until police arrived. He is now in custody on suspicion of attempted murder.
Obi was rushed to Alytus Hospital, underwent emergency surgery and was subsequently transferred to a specialist facility in Kaunas. He was conscious and able to speak after coming out of anaesthesia, which under the circumstances counts as good news.
A familiar story
The Lithuanian Football Federation did not hesitate when it came to naming what happened. According to the report, in a statement released on the same day, the federation described the attack as a manifestation of racism and called for zero tolerance.
Per journalist Oma Akatugba, local reports have muddied the picture somewhat, suggesting the attacker may have mental health issues.
It is a depressingly familiar backdrop. Less than three weeks ago, Tolu Arokodare was targeted with racist abuse on social media after missing a penalty for Wolves.
What happened to Obi in a Lithuanian street is a different and far more violent expression of the same poison, and the fact that it happened to a 20-year-old trying to build a career far from home makes it all the more difficult to sit with.
