Xinhua News Agency quoted the Zhejiang Yuhang District Public Security Bureau on Wednesday and reported that a foreign player of the Chinese Super League club Zhejiang, Gabon international center forward Aaron Boupendza, jumped from his rented house and died at the age of 28.

According to the police information of the Yuhang District Public Security Bureau, the Yuhang District Public Secuirty Bureau received a report from the masses on Wednesday (April 16, 2025) that someone fell from a building in a residential community in the jurisdiction, and quickly organized police forces to deal with it on the spot, and sent the injured to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the injured still succumbed to his injuries after treatment in the hospital and declared dead.

After preliminary on-site investigation and interview, video replay reviewing and other work by the public security organizations' officials, it was found that Boupendza jumped from the balcony of his rented house and died. Since there was no external force breaking in and signs of fighting at the scene, the public security bureau has ruled this case as suicide, excluding the possibility of a criminal case.

Currently, the official person in charge of Zhejiang is fully cooperating with the relevant departments to carry out the investigation.

After the news of Boupendza's suicide was made public, Zhejiang, the Gabonese Football Association and the Major League Soccer (MLS) club FC Cincinnati, where he had previously played, all sent condolences to his relatives and family mourn his death.

Gabon's Prime Minister-elect Brice Oligui Nguema said sadly that Boupendza's sudden death was a great loss to Gabonese football.

About Aaron Boupendza

Boupenza was born on August 7, 1996 in Moanda, Gabon. He is 1.80 meters tall and primarily plays as a center forward, but can also play as a left winger or right winger.

Boupendza joined the youth academy of local Gabonese club Mounana since he was a child, and completed his Mounana first-team debut in a Gabon Cup match in March 2016.

At that time, Boupendza was rated as one of the bestwonderkids in Africa by Goal for his high goalscoring efficiency, and even won the Gabon Championnat National D1 with the team.

In August of the same year, Boupendza joined Bordeaux and played mainly for its B team.

In August 2017, Boupendza was loaned-out to Pau, during which he won the Championnat National Golden Boot Award.

In July of the following year, Boupendza was loaned-out to Gazélec Ajaccio, but his loan was terminated early due to poor performances.

After that, he was loaned-out to Tours and Feirense.

In August 2020, Boupendza joined Hatayspor as a free agent, during which he won the Turkish Süper Lig Golden Boot Award with 22 goals.

In August of the following year, Boupendza joined Al-Arabi for €4.5 million, during which he won the Qatar FA Cup with the club.

In August 2022, Boupendza joined Al-Shabab for €6.5 million, during which he reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League with the club.

In June of the following year, Boupendza joined FC Cincinnati.

During this spell, he won the Major League Soccer (MLS) Supporters Shield with the team.

In September 2024, Boupendza joined Rapid Bucharest as a free agent, but decided to leave due to severe racial discrimination.

In January this year, Boupendza joined Zhejiang for €600,000.

During his three-month spell with the Green Giants, Boupendza only played 6 times for the Chinese Super League club in all competitions, scoring 4 goals and assisting 2 times.