On April 14,
Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini collapsed while playing in a Serie B game
in Pescara, and died.
Not only Italians, but soccer players
and fans all over the world expressed their shock and sadness at the death of
the 25-year-old: all Italian soccer events, including those of the Serie A,
were cancelled; thousands of people gathered outside the stadium in Livorno to
pay their respects; and at all major-league soccer games across the world, a
minute of silence was observed.
Livorno’s president, Aldo Spinelli,
retired Morosini’s number. ‘Retiring a number is one of the most symbolic acts
that football clubs can do to show respect and gratitude to a former player,’
he explained.
Moreover, Udinese, the club that owned
Morosini’s contract, has confirmed it will honour his memory by providing
financial aid to his disabled sister, the only member of his family still
alive. His parents died when he was 18, and his disabled brother committed
suicide shortly thereafter.
A former Italy Under-21 player,
Morosini fell in the 31st minute of the game. Despite desperate attempts to
resuscitate him, he never regained consciousness.
Although the cause of death has yet to
be determined, doctors believe it was heart failure, perhaps due to a defect.
Former Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli, currently head coach of Italy’s
national team, was among the many figures of the soccer world who attended
Morosini’s funeral in his hometown of Bergamo on April 19. ‘Soccer must ask
itself questions following this tragedy. Sports medicine and prevention are
state of the art in Italy, but it’s possible to improve them.’
An inquiry has been launched into
cause of a delay in getting medical assistance to Morosini: an unmanned traffic
police car blocking the ambulance’s entrance had to be broken into and removed.
Although medical experts have
suggested that Morosini might not have been saved even if a defibrillator had
been readily available, the death prompted Italian Soccer Federation president
Giancarlo Abete to state, ‘It is necessary to increase [the number of]
defibrillators available to respond to immediate demands on the field …The fact
that we are at the cutting edge does not mean that Italy’s sports medicine
cannot improve. There are 71,000 teams in Italy. We must not think only about
the professionals. An extra effort is needed for the immense world of amateurs
and youth football.’
