Ivory Coast football squad bids former team-mate; Cheick Tiote, farewell as he's being laid to rest (PHOTOS)

Former Ivory Coast team-mates of Cheick Tiote have attended his funeral service in the country's capital of Abidjan.


The former Newcastle United midfielder passed away earlier this month after suffering a heart attack during a training session with his Chinese club Beijing Enterprise.

Members of the Ivory Coast squad were present, including Tiote's former international colleagues Kolo Toure, Wilfried Bony and Salomon Kalou.
Tiote left Newcastle in February after nearly seven years at St James' Park, during which time he made 156 appearances and scored one goal.

After a memorial service was held in Beijing earlier this week his body was flown back to Ivory Coast ahead of Sunday's funeral.
Wilfried Bony was among the pallbearers as his coffin arrived on Thursday.

Ex-Newcastle team-mate Papiss Cisse, who plays for Shandong Luneng, paid tribute to Tiote during the memorial in China.
'I lived some extraordinary moments with this man and today he's gone,' said Cisse at the service as he fought back tears.
Beijing Enterprises players were also present at that service as they paid their respects to Tiote.
Sportsmail revealed earlier this week that Beijing Enterprises had no emergency cardiac equipment at their training base which which to treat him.  
And Manchester United legend Andy Cole questioned whether more can be done to protect players who suffer from heart problems.
'If someone is only 30 and they pass away, the question that is naturally going to be asked is 'Why? What's gone on there? Why has he passed away so early?', Cole said to BBC Radio Five Live.

'It's a strange one. Cheick Tiote hadn't been in China that long - a few months - so he must have had a medical to complete the transfer. Was nothing picked up in that medical?
'Is anything actually being done? Is it being looked into? We need to nail it down and get to the bottom of why and what it is.
'Because it seems to be happening to more and more professional footballers - fit, strong men.'
As well as a seven-year spell with the Magpies, Tiote also featured for Anderlecht, Twente and made 55 appearances for the Ivory Coast senior side, winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.