Ex-rugby star Ricky Bibey, 40, found dead in Italy hotel room as former clubs pay tribute
17 July 2022, 14:32 | Updated: 17 July 2022, 14:34
Former rugby league star Ricky Bibey has been found dead inside a riverside hotel in Florence, Italy.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Bibey was identified by local newspaper La Nazione.
Ricky, who retired in 2012, was working as an estate agent. He died after suffering a seizure in the small hours of yesterday morning.
He had made 215 appearances for five rugby league sides including three stints with Leigh Centurions.
He was said to have arrived on Friday with a 43-year-old woman, thought to be his partner, who is being treated at the city's Careggi hospital after she was found alongside him with serious injuries.
Rugby star Leon Pryce wrote on Twitter: "Sincere condolences to Ricky's family. We played against each other since the age of about 14.
"Yorkshire vs Lancashire & together for England schools boys U16's. A great lad. Absolutely devastating news. RIP Ricky."
Bibey's former team, Wakefield Trinity, wrote on Twitter this morning: “Trinity are saddened to hear of the passing of former prop-forward Ricky Bibey, aged 40.
“We send our condolences to Ricky's family and friends at this tough time.”
Leigh Centurions wrote that the team were "desperately saddened" to learn of Mr Bibey's death while he was "on holiday in Italy", adding: "Everyone at the club sends sincere condolences to his family and friends at this time."
The Foreign Office said: "We are in touch with the Italian police following the death of a British man in Florence."
His body was found next to a 43-year-old woman who was taken to hospital for treatment for cuts and bruises.
They arrived at the four-star Hotel Continentale in Florence late on Friday evening and went out before returning at around 2am, local media reported.
Staff called police after the woman asked a chambermaid for help.
Paramedics raced to the scene and the woman was taken to hospital, where she was said to be in a serious but stable condition.
Local police and forensic teams were seen at the luxury hotel on Saturday, which is located a short walk away from the Ponte Vecchio in the historic centre of Florence, and investigations are reportedly under way.
Read more: Woman mauled to death and man injured in dog attack in Rotherham
Read more: Tragic details emerge of woman, 61, who lay dead in London flat for over two years
A police source said: "The man was found with a series of cuts, bruises and other injuries on his body and so was the woman, although she was more seriously hurt and the man appears to have had some sort of seizure.
"There is blood in the room and the forensic teams are working there at the moment while the woman has been taken to hospital for treatment.
"Her current condition is serious but she is stable and her injuries are not life-threatening. We hope to question her at some point in the next few hours."
