Le Havre youth team player dies, club say

PARIS, April 7 (Reuters) - Le Havre reserve player Samba Diop has died at the age of 18, the Ligue 2 club said on Saturday.

"Le Havre is in mourning. It is with deep sadness that the members of the club have heard that Samba Diop has died," Le Havre said in a statement.

Local radio station France Bleu reported that Diop, one of the key defenders in the club’s reserve team, was found dead at his home on Saturday.

The French League said the Ligue 2 game between Stade de Reims and Le Havre, scheduled for Saturday, had been postponed as a result of Diop's death.

French football has been hit by a series of deaths in recent weeks.

Last week, 12-year-old Baptiste Le Foll, one of En Avant Guingamp’s youth academy players, died suddenly, three weeks after Tours FC youth academy player Thomas Rodriguez died aged 18.