There were shocking reported scenes at a top-flight Italian football match when a 23-year-old man had to be resuscitated after suffering a cardiac arrest – leading home manager Jose Mourinho to make him a promise.
The famous Stadio Olimpico in Rome is said to have fallen into silence as news of the fan’s predicament spread, with fans reportedly lowering their flags in solidarity while the stricken supporter was helped by medics using a defibrilator.
Some fans were so upset that they reportedly left the south curve area of the stadium, and the man suffered a second heart attack in the ambulance while he was being transported to hospital, according to Corriere della Sera via Forza Roma.
He is now said to be intubated and sedated in intensive care in the Gemelli Polyclinic, having undergone tests that reportedly ruled out ‘complications’.
In the first half an hour of the Roma-Spezia game, a 30-year-old fan suffered a cardiac arrest in the stands. He was resuscitated with a defibrillator and rushed to the Gemelli Hospital, report La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The incident is not the first of its kind in recent months. The Premier League match between Newcastle and Tottenham was halted in October while a doctor in the crowd attended to a medical emergency involving a fellow supporter who was later said to have been ‘stable and responsive’.
Mourinho, who guided Roma to a 2-0 win over Spezia in the match on Sunday, issued a message to the fan the following day.
“I only understood [what had happened] at the end,” the former Serie A champion is quoted as saying.
“Let’s hope everything goes well. In that case, if he gives me the address, I will send him the my jacket – so the next time he comes in this cold, he’ll have my jacket.”
The fan fell ill a day after Victor Lindelof was forced out of Manchester United’s win at Norwich because he felt discomfort in his chest and was struggling to breathe.
United boss Ralf Rangnick confirmed that the defender’s heart rate had been higher than normal when he withdrew him with 15 minutes remaining.
Lindelof’s wife, Maja, said on her blog on Tuesday that the Sweden international had recovered at home and was undergoing tests.
Premier League legend Sergio Aguero is arguably the most high-profile footballer to have been hit by suspected heart problems this season.
The Manchester City record scorer is expected to announce his premature retirement as a result of his problem on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that China “knows how to do it” ahead of what he expects to be a Winter Olympics “held at the highest level” in Beijing,
The Games, which run in February, have become embroiled in an international row after the Biden administration confirmed last week that the US will be conducting a diplomatic boycott of the showpiece.
Other nations including Britain and Canada have since followed suit because of their concerns over purported human rights abuses in China, including the alleged forced labor and sterilization of Uyghurs in the north of the country.
That has led to warnings by China of repercussions over the boycotts. Now Putin, who has accepted an invitation from Xi to attend the Games which will allow him to avoid a ban imposed as the result of a World Anti-Doping Agency ruling on Russia, has said he expects the event to succeed.
“I am glad to see you, welcome!”, President #Putin to Chinese president Xi Jinping at the beginning of the online summit of the two allies. pic.twitter.com/9ti3bS4o4x
“I have no doubt that the upcoming Winter Olympic Games will be held at the highest level,” Putin said during a video meeting with Xi, who called the Russian leader an “old friend”.
“China knows how to do it. [This includes] the rejection of any attempts to politicize sports and the Olympic movement.”
French leader Emmanuel Macron has described the impact of diplomatic boycotts as “questionable”, and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday: “Politicizing sporting events like the Winter Olympics does not seem useful to me.”
Putin and Xi clearly agree with those views. “I hope that next February we will finally be able to meet in person in Beijing,” Putin told Xi, describing him as a “friend” and “distinguished”.
“As agreed, we will hold negotiations with you, then we will participate in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.”
Putin said he was grateful for an invitation to attend the opening ceremony that he initially revealed he intended to accept while speaking at a business summit at the end of November.
He also noted a close sporting link between the countries and called their overall relations “a true model of interstate cooperation for the 21st century”.
“The close co-ordination between Russia and China on the international arena – the responsible joint approach to solving urgent global issues – has become a stabilizing factor in international affairs,” he said.
The talks came a week after Putin spoke to US president Biden about the current situation between Russia and Ukraine. A Kremlin spokesman said Putin intends to discuss the topic with Xi as “allies”.
Former NFL star Phillip Adams, who was responsible for a violent gun rampage which killed six people in April, was suffering from severe brain trauma often linked to a career on the football field, according to a neuropathologist.
Defensive back Adams, who spent six seasons in the NFL with a variety of teams and had no previous criminal record, shot five people to death at a house in Rock Hill, South Carolina as well as fatally injuring a sixth who died several hours later.
The victims included a well-known local doctor, his wife and their two children aged nine and five, as well as two people who were working on the house where the attacks occurred.
He turned the gun on himself the next day, having barricaded himself inside his home after his mother had been safely removed from the residence. Police later said they attempted to make contact with him via loudspeaker as well as sending a robot into the house in an attempt to persuade him to exit safely.
The surviving family of Dr. Robert Lesslie, the neighbor who Phillip Adams killed, said they take 'comfort' in the diagnosis. Lesslie was shot dead along with his wife Barbara and two of their grandchildren on April 8 #PhillipAdams#CTEpic.twitter.com/odIcnUG9O5
Adams’ father, Alonzo, later said that his time in football, which also included a collegiate career with the South Carolina State Bulldogs, had “messed him up” and likely played a role in the killings – an assertion backed by a post-mortem study of his brain tissue showing that he was suffering from an “unusually severe” case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of brain trauma which is linked to repeated concussions and blows to the head and has been cited in several other fatal incidents involving former NFL players.
Announcing the findings of a study in Adams’ case, neuropathologist Ann McKee, who serves as director of Boston University CTE Center, said that Adams has significant damage to his frontal lobe.
She added that the damage to Adams’ brain was similar to that of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted of murder in 2015 and killed himself in 2017.
Boston University doctor who studied former NFL player Phillip Adams’ brain says he had Stage 2 CTE, doctor says Adams’ football career put him at high risk for CTE, Adams killed 6 people in York County in April and then killed himself @FOX46News pic.twitter.com/VgnBOOBCPa
“It’s difficult to say that it alone resulted in these behaviors because usually it’s a complicated issue with many other factors.
“But certainly we have seen this behavior and it is, in fact, not what I would consider unusual in this disease.”
Adams, she said, was experiencing stage 2 CTE, with stage 4 being the the most severe diagnosis of the disease, a determination which was made after his family donated his brain for study in the wake of his murder-suicide. CTE can only be diagnosed after death.
Adams’ sister, Lauren, had also told USA Today that the 32-year-old’s mental health and overall wellbeing had deteriorated significantly in the period before his death.
“His mental health degraded fast and [became] terribly bad,” Lauren Adams said shortly after the shootings. “There was unusual behavior. I’m not going to get into all that.
“We definitely did notice signs of mental illness that were extremely concerning, that was not like we had ever seen. He wasn’t a monster. He was struggling with his mental health.”
Four years ago, the Boston University CTE Center stated that 110 of 111 studies into deceased NFL players showed that they were suffering from the degenerative brain disorder.
Former NFL running back Zac Stacy says that a video which appears to show him violently abusing his ex-girlfriend in front of their infant child was ‘staged’ and was an attempt on her part to extort him.
Stacy, once of the New York Jets, was arrested a month ago in Orlando, Florida after the alleged assault on his former partner and the mother of his child, Stacy Evans.
Disturbing home security footage of the incident showed Stacy appearing to punch Evans on numerous occasions before throwing her towards a television and then their child’s buggy while she cried out for him to stop the attack.
A subsequent warrant issued for the 30-year-old described how Stacy had thrown Evans to the floor “like a rag doll” before he was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief which could land him in prison for 20 years if convicted.
Look at Zac Stacy saying his son’s mother staged him beating her and throwing her around. Wow. What a complete narcissist. She made me do it officer. pic.twitter.com/UUdmogVcLR
However, arrest footage obtained by TMZ shows that Stacy told cops that Evans had staged the assault for the benefit of the recording cameras after he had denied her romantic approaches.
“It’s just a case of bitterness, man,” he says in the footage of his arrest. “That’s why she did this – the whole assault thing, she staged it. She set me up.
“The whole thing was staged,” he added. “All she’s trying to do is get money out of me. She got a reaction out of me.”
Warning: video contains graphic content
Home video captures former NFL running back Zac Stacy savagely beating the mother of his child & throwing her around like a rag doll in Florida. The child was just feet away. Zac Stacy played for St. Louis Rams & the Jets. pic.twitter.com/ikI38QqdAu
The former NFL star also told the Orlando Police Department that he had just emerged from treatment for anxiety and depression as well as finding out that Evans had an affair with his financial advisor, but that he had shown up to her residence to offer his support as a parent.
“She knew I was down, she knew I was going through anxiety and depression. She knew I was trying to close this gap that’s between me and my son and she’s just upset that she got caught, and she’s upset I’m not taking care of him like she expected.
Stacy, however, admitted that the evidence caught on the security footage was “f*cked up”, adding: “I don’t know what man – how any man could have handled that situation.”
Evans, though, offered a fierce rebuttal of Stacy’s claims in a video statement on Monday and said he was “playing victim” with his claims.
“I don’t know how you can stage getting you ass beat on multiple occasions. You can’t” she said.
“This is what abusers do. They will make you seem like you’re the crazy one and that they’re the victim.
“It really makes me more upset that the cops are consoling him, telling him to breathe. Everything about this makes me uncomfortable.”
She had previously sought a restraining order against Stacy while claiming that he had been violent to her since she became pregnant with their child, with a report from UK tabloid The Sun detailing a series of domestic disturbance calls to police.
Argentina icon Sergio Aguero has held a tearful press conference confirming his retirement from football after he was hospitalized while complaining of chest pain and dizziness during a Liga game for Barcelona in October.
The former Manchester City and Atletico Madrid star, who signed for Barca on a free transfer in May, was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia through a battery of medical tests following the worrying end to his appearance against Alaves.
Barca announced soon afterwards that he would be absent from team affairs for three months while his cardiac health was evaluated.
After rumors that Aguero would be forced to call time on his career, the 33-year-old spoke live on Barcelona’s channels from their Camp Nou home about what he described as a “very difficult moment”.
“I’ve decided to stop playing football,” the 101-cap international said, fighting through his emotions.
“I have taken it for my health; that’s the main reason I have taken this decision, because of the problem that I had.
“I’m very proud of the career I’ve had, very happy. I always dreamt about playing football, since I was five years old – when I first touched a ball.
“My dream was to play in the Primeira Division; I never thought I’d get to Europe.”
Aguero will be best remembered for his decade-long spell with Manchester City, playing a key role in the power transfer from the red half of the city – arch-rivals Manchester United – to the blue of City.
️ “Manchester City are still alive here..
Balotelli…
AGUEROOOOOOOOO!!
I swear you will never see anything like this again.
So watch it, drink it in.”
9 years ago today, Sergio Aguero scored THAT goal against QPR
Everyone at Manchester City would like to take this opportunity to thank @aguerosergiokun for his incredible contribution to our success over the last decade and wish him well in his retirement pic.twitter.com/AgMWXZtPZ8
He scored 260 goals in 390 appearances to become City’s all-time record scorer, including the dramatic last-gasp winner against QPR at the City of Manchester Stadium which took the Premier League title away from United in 2012.
That would be the first of five Premier League trophies he would claim in a silverware-laden spell with the club.
His international career also ended on a high as he helped Argentina to the Copa America in 2021, adding to the World Cup runners-up medal he earned in 2014.
“I want to show my gratitude to everyone, regardless of where I trained,” said the ex-Independiente frontman.
“Atletico Madrid took a bet on me when I was 18 years old. They took a bet on me that I could do things well in Europe.
“You have all of our support … we wish you all the best, Sergio”
“People from Manchester City, you all know how I feel about Manchester City. I did things as best I could there. I’m very grateful because they looked after me very well.”
Aguero was expected to play with long-time friend Lionel Messi at Barcelona before the club captain made a shock departure to Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Aguero endured an injury-hit start to life at the club, scoring once in five appearances before the sad conclusion to his career.
“Everyone here at Barca, the team have been great to me,” he said. “It’s been incredible. It’s without doubt one of the best teams in the world.”
