May 26 – Football has been rocked by yet another tragic incident of a young player unexpectedly losing his life after collapsing during a game, this time in Argentina.
Atletico Parana defender Cristian Gomez, 27, never recovered after falling unconscious with a suspected heart attack half-an-hour into the match against Boca Unidos in Argentina’s second-tier Primera B.
“The doctors told us they couldn’t resuscitate him. This is totally unexpected, unbelievable. He’d never had anything wrong with him,” said match supervisor Ramon Gomez.
Matches in Argentina had only just resumed following the death of Emanuel Ortega of San Martin de Burzaco who suffered a fatal head injury when he struck a concrete wall surrounding the pitch.
Gomez’s untimely death will again raise concerns about the dangers of cardiac arrest. By co-incidence FIFA is holding a two-day medical conference immediately prior to this week’s Congress in Zurich at which the issue of heart failure among seemingly healthy athletes is certain to be discussed.
The conference is being led by FIFA’s medical chief Michel d’Hooghe who earlier this month, in an interview with Insideworldfootball, called on leagues across the world to pay more attention to the issue following the tragic deaths of two young Belgian players in the space of two weeks.
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