Christian Eriksen will not be allowed to play for Inter Milan again unless the defibrillator installed after his cardiac arrest while on Denmark duty is removed, the Italian Football Association has said.
The 29-year-old collapsed during his country’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland on June 12 and required urgent CPR treatment from pitch-side medics. Eriksen was brought back to life on the pitch but the remainder his football career remains in doubt.
Eriksen, 29, suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 tie with Finland on June 12
It was confirmed after his cardiac arrest that Eriksen now has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) inserted in his chest to regulate any further disturbances in his heartbeat.
Eriksen plays club football for Inter Milan in Italy, a country who bans players at both amateur and professional level from competing if they have any significant heart abnormalities.
And Francesco Braconaro, a member of the Italian FA’s technical scientific committee, revealed the Danish footballer must have the defibrillator removed to play in Italian football again, as it will show he has no further heart problems.
Braconaro told Radio Kiss Kiss: ‘Christian Eriksen cannot be given the all-clear to play in Italy.
‘If the player has the defibrillator removed, therefore confirming the pathology can be resolved, then he can return to play for Inter.’
The Denmark star needed urgent CPR on the pitch and was brought back to life in Copenhagen
During Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 with Finland on June 12, Eriksen went to ground unchallenged mid-way through the match in Copenhagen and received immediate CPR treatment from medical staff.
The match was postponed just after 6pm that evening and Eriksen was seen sitting upright whilst being stretchered off with an oxygen mask on his mouth just minutes later.
