Denmark midfielder, Christian Eriksen, may not play professional football again after his cardiac arrest during his country’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland, a leading sports cardiologist, Sanjay Sharma, has said.
Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s Euro 2020 1-0 defeat against Finland on Saturday.
The Inter Milan playmaker was resuscitated on the pitch, with players and fans watching on in distress before he was taken to hospital.
The Danish Football Federation said on Sunday morning that Eriksen is “stable” and he remains in hospital.
However, Sharma, a professor of sports cardiology at London’s St George’s University who worked with Eriksen during his time at Tottenham, said football bodies would likely be “very strict” about allowing the 29-year-old star to play football again.
“Clearly, something went terribly wrong,” Sharma was quoted by the New Daily as saying.
“But they managed to get him [Eriksen] 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?”
“The fact he is stable and awake, his outlook is going to be very good. “I don’t know whether he will ever play football again.
“Without putting it too bluntly, he died today, albeit for a few minutes, but he did die and would the medical professional allow him to die again? “The answer is no.”
“His cardiac arrest has rocked the entire nation today and that’s what happens. It is not just them that it affects, it’s the psyche of so many people,” he added.
“The good news is he will live. The bad news is he was coming to the end of his career, so would he play another professional football game? That I can’t say.
“In the UK he wouldn’t play. We would be very strict about it.”
