Fiorentina’s midfield player Edoardo Bove is now in intensive care in hospital after he suddenly collapsed on the pitch during Fiorentina's Serie A match with Inter Milan on Sunday.
The football world was momentarily thrown into a state of despair on Sunday when Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove went to the ground in the 16th minute and had to be treated by both sides’ medical teams. The match was suspended due to the incident as both sets of players were left in tears, fearing the worst.
A statement released by Fiorentina reported that Bove's vital signs were stable upon arrival at the hospital and that the player is ‘‘currently under pharmacological sedation and hospitalized in intensive care.’’
“He arrived at the emergency room in stable hemodynamic conditions and the first cardiological and neurological tests performed have ruled out acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardio-respiratory system," the statement read.
The club concluded the statement by saying the Fiorentina midfielder will be reevaluated in the next 24 hours.
The 22 year old Fiorentina midfielder suddenly fell to the ground, leading to a stoppage in play. Both sets of players immediately signaled for the medical staff to enter the field before tearfully shielding the process from public gaze by forming a protective ring around him.
Bove was then taken away on a stretcher and lifted onto a waiting ambulance, but not before the referee had asked both sets of players to leave the pitch.
Before the Eduardo Bove collapse incident, the player had recently scored his first goal for the side he joined on a season long loan from Roma in the summer. Interestingly, the goal came against his parent club. Eduardo has played for the Italian age grades up to the u21s, but is yet to receive his first senior call up to the Azzurri.
Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso, in his message to the player, said: "Forza Edoardo, we’re with you. You’re a strong boy with a great character. We’re reaching out to his family during these moments.”
Inter's president, Giuseppe Marotta, also reacting to the Eduardo Bove collapse incident, relayed a message via Sky Italia: "Inter and the entire football world express their closeness to Bove's family and Fiorentina. The decision to postpone the match was spontaneous on everyone's part, we are a community, all the players and even the referee were emotionally involved. We hope it is nothing serious”.
There were also messages of support on social media for the player. Teammate and former Manchester United goalkeeper, David de Gea, posted “God please” on X. He accompanied the message with a prayer hand emoji.
Roma, his parent club posted also on X: "One of us, we are all with you.”
Serie A's official X account joined in the prayers for the player’s health: "Forza Edoardo. We're all with you.”
The Eduardo Bove collapse incident also brings into focus the question of how much attention is being paid to the subject of footballers’ health, especially with more games and less consideration for the athletes themselves. It reminds us of similar incidents in the past, from Christian Erisksen who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at the Euros in 2021, to Roma defender Evan Ndicka, who collapsed during a Serie A match with Udinese.