KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica defender Orane Simpson was fatally stabbed in the violence-wracked Kingston slum where he was raised, police said on Wednesday.
A brief police statement said the 26-year-old Simpson, a Jamaica international since 2005, was stabbed multiple times on Tuesday, several hours after having a quarrel with a man.
There have been no arrests, but police are looking for the man he argued with and any witnesses to the stabbing in Tivoli Gardens, a sprawling neighborhood that was the country's first government housing project.
Simpson also played with the Tivoli Gardens team in the Caribbean island's National Premier League. He made his debut for the Reggae Boyz in 2005 against Australia.
Brian Rose, manager for the Tivoli Gardens team, described Simpson as a "warrior" on the football field.
"He believed in winning to the very end," Rose said.
Howard Bell, an administrator with the Jamaican Football Federation, said the right back had recently been sidelined with an injury. He did not provide more details.
Team officials did not immediately return calls Wednesday.
Drug and extortion gangs are blamed for 90 percent of the homicides in Jamaica — 1,611 last year, about 10 times the rate in the United States, relative to population.