Egyptian club El Gouna announced on Saturday that newly recruited Ivorian player Ahmed Toure has left the country with a fake passport after he was diagnosed with HIV.

The team’s director Ahmed Al Sohafey said regular medical check ups revealed the player had recently contracted the virus, which did not appear during the initial test.

“When we signed him he did not suffer from any diseases, however we do regular check ups for the players all times and we now know that he has the virus” Al Sohafey was quoted as saying by supersport.com.

The 25-year-old striker, who was born in Burkina Faso but holding Ivorian nationality, joined Gouna from Ghanaian topflight Asante Kotoko, where he spent three seasons and scored 20 goals.

Cote D’Ivoire football federation (FIF) told Goal.com that it had received no information about the situation of the player or his whereabouts.