Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen is lucky to be alive but unlikely to play again after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest during Saturday’s Group B clash between Denmark and Finland in the ongoing Euro 2020 tournament.
The sad revelation was made known yesterday by a sports cardiologist Professor Sanjay Sharma, who previously worked with Eriksen at Tottenham Hotspur.
Sharma, professor of sports cardiology at London’s St George’s University, said football bodies and medical practitioners were likely to be “very strict” about allowing Eriksen, who is now with Italian club Inter Milan, to play again.
He said: “Clearly something went terribly wrong.
“But they managed to get him back, the question is what happened? And why did it happen?
“This guy had normal tests all the way up to 2019 so how do you explain this cardiac arrest?”
Sharma, who chairs the FA’s expert cardiac consensus group, said there were multiple reasons a cardiac arrest could have happened, such as high temperatures or an unidentified condition.
But he said reports after the match that Eriksen was awake in hospital were “a very good sign”.
“I’m very pleased. The fact he’s stable and awake, his outlook is going to be very good,” he told the PA news agency.
During the football match, Eriksen, 29, fell to the ground at the Parken Stadium, soon before half-time and was treated on the pitch before being taken to hospital.
The first-round match was suspended with players from both sides in clear distress before resuming some two hours later after Eriksen was said to be in a stable condition. Finland won 1-0.
