May 6, 2016
BUCHAREST: Cameroon's footballer Patrick Ekeng died after collapsing on the pitch
here on Friday. He collapsed soon after coming on ground as a substitute for
Dinamoo Bucharest's side, against Viitorul Constanta. The 26-year old midfielder
had joined the Romanian club in January. Ekeng had a wife and daughter.
Ekeng was taken to hospital where he was declared dead. All attempts for
resuscitation failed. Ekeng had played for several European clubs, spending four
seasons with French Ligue 2 side Le Mans from 2009 to 2013 before arriving in
Romania.
Another club member Catalin Haldan died platying in 2000. FIFA president Gianni
Infantino paid tributes to the African leader. The Romanian Football Federation
postponed all weekend plays.
The Brazilian footballer for Friburguense Bernardo Ribeiro collapsed during a
friendly match before being taken to a hospital on May 7. He died of heart
attack.
There have been several cases of footballers dying while playing the game or
dying of injuries sustained while playing. There were also cases of players taking
ill on the pitch.
Over a dozen FIFA players died in the last one year alone. On May 1 2016
Stefan Petrovski (18) of Melaka United died struck by lightning while training on
April 5. He died in hospital.
In view of the high incidence of deaths on the ground, the Federation of
International Football Associations (FIFA) has proposed to make cardiac testing
mandatory.