Jody Lukoki, a former DR Congo and FC Twante winger passed away at 29-year-old. His death was confirmed earlier today, May 9, 2022.
Jody Lukoki’s demise came three months after he suffered a suspended sentence for assaulting his girlfriend whose name has not been known at the time of publishing this report.
Though the cause of his death has not been made public at the time of publishing this report, Jody Lukoki died during a period he was battling to recover from a serious cruciate ligament injury.
Lukoki who has played for a couple of clubs before his untimely demise, last played for a Dutch club FC Twente before he ended up without a club on February 17, 2022.
A statement from FC Twente read: “The club is shocked and deeply moved by this tragic event. “FC Twente sympathizes with his loved ones and wishes them a lot of strength in processing this great loss.”
One of the clubs Jody Lukoki played for earlier in his football career, PEC Zwolle also released a statement to sympathize with the late footballer’s family. The statement read: “PEC Zwolle has learned with dismay and sadness of the far too early death of former player Jody Lukoki.
“Lukoki will forever be remembered as PEC Zwolle’s first goalscorer in an official European game. PEC Zwolle wishes the relatives of Jody Lukoki a lot of strength to bear this enormous loss.”
The personal life and football career of Jody Lukoki
Jody Lukoki was born on November 15, 1992, in Kindu, Zaire, a former Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
During the First Congo War (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa’s First World War, Jody Lukoki who was still a child then, followed his parents to the Netherlands alongside his brother Madjer Lukoki.
When the late footballer clocked 10-years-old in the Netherlands, he joined VVA/Spartan where he started training to become a professional footballer.
Afterward, he joined Ajax’s under-17 side on July 1, 2008. He played for the club’s youth side until July 1, 2012, before he was promoted to the club’s senior team.
On August 7, 2014, Jody Lukoki left Ajax for PEC Zwolle for a transfer fee worth €500,000. He stayed at the club for a season before he left for Ludogorets for 1 million euros.
Lukoki stayed at Ludogorets for five years before he stayed without a club between April 2020 to August 2020. He joined a Turkish club Malatyaspor on August 17, 2020; a season later, he was without a club again.
On July 1, 2021, FC Twente decided to sign him and was reportedly paying him €40,000 per week. Unfortunately for him, he assaulted his girlfriend in February 2022.
The assault scandal forced FC Twente to dissolve its contract with the late footballer. The scandal also earned Lukoki 80 hours of community service and a suspended three-year probationary period for the charges.
Since February 17, 2022, Lukoki had been without a football club. Over a week before his death, Lukoki took to Instagram page to announce that he was training at the gym to return to football.
It might interest you to note that Jody Lukoki had represented the Netherlands under-19, under-20, and under-21 teams before he decided to represent his country of origin, DR Congo, on March 28, 2015. He only managed to play three times for the country before he died on May 9, 2022.
Based on his Instagram posts, it seems Lukoki is survived by a son whose name has not been confirmed at the time of publishing this report.
