PHOTO: Bildbyrån + Instagram
She was predicted a bright future and played Champions League match last night.
But now Julia Ituma has been found dead, she was only 18 years old.
“We are shocked by this loss,” her club Igor Novara wrote in a statement.
18-year-olds Julia Ituma was one of Italian volleyball’s great future promises and has been singled out as the most interesting talent to follow. This year, the teenager made her very first season in the Italian top league in volleyball and she has won the U19 EC with Italy.
18-year-old dead
On Wednesday night, Ituma was in Istanbul, Turkey, with his team Igor Novara to play the semifinals of the Champions League. Later on Thursday night, Ituma was found dead outside the hotel under mysterious circumstances.
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Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Julia must have fallen from the balcony of her hotel room and the circumstances are still unclear. Turkish police have launched a preliminary investigation to find out what caused the gruesome death.
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Swedish sorrow
Julia Ituma was only 18 years old and is now greatly mourned in the sports world.
“The club and all its members are shocked by this loss. We will respectfully wait for more details about the investigation and its outcome,” writes her club Igor Novara in a statement on Instagram.
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Also the Italian club Imoco Volley, where the Swedish superstar Isabelle Haak plays, has expressed his sadness in a post on Instagram. Haak is considered one of the best volleyball players in the world right now and has also shared the post on his own Instagram page.
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A minute’s silence will be held before all series matches within the Italian volleyball upcoming round in honor of the late Julia Ituma.
– We are all appalled by this tragedy, which affects not only volleyball but all Italian sports. Today, we mourn not only the loss of a sporting talent, but above all a wonderful 18-year-old girl who we have watched closely develop in Italy year after year. My thoughts go out to Julia’s family, I send them my deepest condolences and guarantee that we will give our full support, says the president of the Italian Volleyball Federation Giuseppe Manfredi in a statement to the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.