There has recently been a great number of high-profile footballers collapsing in matches and training due to heart problems. Many fans and experts have been perplexed by this alarming trend.
Throughout the history of football, many players have collapsed on the pitch but we used to see it as an anomaly, something that happens once every year or two years, but 2021 was different. There has been an unusual amount and something that needs to be raised as a concern for football clubs, or else we may see a player die on the pitch.
The most high-profile case to happen in 2021 was of course Christian Eriksen during Euros in a match against Finland.
He suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch and needed CPR and a defibrillator to reset his heart rhythm. This shocked the whole world as it was being broadcast worldwide to millions.
Eriksen is a world-class talent and you would think he was at the peak of his fitness, but now, due to his heart issues, he is likely to retire from football at the age of 29.
Nonetheless, when the Eriksen situation happened, we the fans saw it as an anomaly, which every so often, footballers collapses, like when it happened to Fabrice but no, 2021 is different, very scarily different, because more and more high-profile footballers are going down with heart issues.
In October against Alaves, another scenario of this unfortunate series of incident happened to the Argentine Legend, Kun Aguero
Aguero started experiencing breathing problems and had to be subbed off. He has since been diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia, which is irregular heartbeat. Aguero, of course, not willing to take any chances and having already had a historic career, was willing to retire from all of football.
Another case, on the 1st of November, Icelandic footballer Emil Poulsen suffered a cardiac arrest during a match in Norway’s 2nd Division.
The 28-year-old player collapsed 12 minutes into the match and went into cardiac arrest. He was later resuscitated and fitted with a peacemaker with the hopes of making a full recovery.
On the 23rd of November, Sheffield United midfielder and Scotland international John Fleck, aged 30, collapsed in the middle of the field in a game against Reading.
The play was halted for 11 minutes as Fleck had collapsed on the pitch and required immediate medical treatment.
An oxygen mask was needed for him as he regained consciousness and taken to hospital. Fleck has since been discharged from hospital and will wait to see if he can return to football.
A fresh tragic incident happened in November, Wigan Athletics striker Charlie Wyke
Charlie, aged 28, has scored 5 goals in 15 appearances this season. He collapsed during training, remained lying down while receiving treatment, and was seen still to be breathing, but his eyes were closed as he was clutching his chest in discomfort.
He had to be taken to hospital. While there hasn’t been any confirmation as to what caused the diagnosis of his issue, the club have announced he will closely be monitored in hospital.
Another case, which happened very recent, was Manchester United defender and Sweden international Victor Lindelof.
Lindelof, who had to be sopped off in a match against Norwich on the 11th of December. He had said to be dealing with breathing difficulties, and United have confirmed further tests are being carried out to determine the severity of his health issues.
Lindelof’s girlfriend would later confirm that he has been fitted with a heart monitor.
What can be causing this issue?
Many people say it’s the coronavirus, it’s the vaccine. Many people say, or many experts say, it’s just too many games, players aren’t being screened for their heart issues.
But what could it be?
Is it a pure coincidence that it’s happening in the space of four months, all these fit footballers clutching, going down with their heart issues?
We wait to see what it is, but I’m not sure if it is a coincidence. There must be something happening that is causing this to happen. I don’t believe it’s the fact that it’s too many games.
You know, players are at the peak of their fitness. We’ve got the state-of-the-art technology and fitness centres for these players. Before, in the 90s and the 80s, players would play about 40, 50 games, and I’m sure fitness wasn’t as strict as it is now.
Players are well looked after, they’re well fit, they just need to do more regular heart checks, heart screening, to find if there’s any footballers who have heart issues that can be identified before they play, or else we may see something tragic on the pitch.
So there are a lot of conspiracies, people saying that it’s the vaccine that’s causing this heart issue. I’m not sure if I believe that, because we don’t really know yet. No one really knows until tests are done, and we wait for more time to find out what it really is.
So these cases are what has been happening in the footballing world in the space of four months, which is a pretty scary trend, something that we’ve not seen before, and this cannot go unnoticed.