By David Gold
April 19 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is to supply medical equipment and administrative support accessories to its national associations.
The move comes in the wake of the recent high-profile on-pitch collapses of Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba (pictured top) and the late Piermario Morosini, the Udinese midfield player on loan at Livorno.
CAF is distributing the aid through its Contract With Africa development programme.
Included in the package are six laptops and medical emergency kits which CAF describes as “essential for life support and other treatments faced by professional athletes”.
CAF President Issa Hayatou said the body was “very committed to the programmes of our members and we hope the equipment will be vital in [helping them] carry out their administrative and medical responsibilities.”
Muamba, 24, has now been discharged from London Chest Hospital after he collapsed following a cardiac arrest during a Premier League game with Tottenham Hotspur last month.
He was pronounced technically dead for 78 minutes after receiving on-pitch attention, but has since made a remarkable recovery.
Sadly, there was no such positive outcome for 25-year-old Morosini, who died after falling to the floor during a Serie B game against Pescara after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The issue of players collapsing on the field has caused particular concern for the African continent.
In 2003, Cameroon’s Marc-Vivien Foe died after collapsing during a Confederations Cup match with Colombia in Lyon, France.
Since 2007, three Nigerians have died during matches while one player from each of Zambia, Ghana, Liberia, Chad and Gabon have also been the victims of similar tragedies.
Although he is qualified to play for England, Muamba was born in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
That he survived has been put down, in part, to the presence of a defibrillator at every Premier League ground as well as the quick access ambulances have to English league grounds, something insisted upon by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho when, as manager of Chelsea, his Czech-born goalkeeper Petr Cech (pictured above) suffered a serious head injury in 2006.
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