FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove is in an induced coma after collapsing on the pitch during his team’s home Serie A fixture against Inter Milan on Sunday. The match was postponed.
Bove’s teammates immediately summoned medical help, and players from both sides gathered around the 22-year-old as he received care before being swiftly carried on a stretcher to a nearby ambulance and transported to Careggi Hospital, Florence’s principal medical center.
“La Fiorentina and Careggi University Hospital announce that Edoardo Bove… is currently under pharmacological sedation and hospitalized in intensive care,” the club said in a statement.
“The Viola footballer arrived at the emergency department in stable hemodynamic condition, and the initial cardiological and neurological examinations so far have ruled out acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardio-respiratory system. Edoardo Bove will be reevaluated over the next 24 hours,” the update added.
Sky Italia later reported that Bove regained consciousness while in the ambulance and was able to breathe on his own.
Parents and Bove’s girlfriend, along with Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino, most of his teammates, club officials, and the city’s mayor, were at the hospital.
Fiorentina fans also gathered and unfurled a banner reading: “Stay strong, Edoardo, Florence is with you.”
Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso echoed that sentiment, and the club said he and his family remain in constant contact from the United States to support Bove and his family.
“Stay strong, Edoardo, we are with you,” Commisso said. “You’re a tough kid with a great character.”
More messages of support flooded social media from players and clubs. Inter midfielder Federico Dimarco, who had been on the field, wrote, “Stay strong, Edo, we’re all with you and your family.”
The incident occurred in the 16th minute. The match had been paused after a VAR review. Bove apparently leaned down to tie the laces of his boot before suddenly collapsing to the ground.
Fiorentina players reacted with distress and were consoled by their own staff as well as by Inter players. Several players wept before both squads left the pitch.
The Italian league match was immediately halted and subsequently postponed. The scoreline at the time of the medical emergency was 0-0.
Many in Fiorentina, as well as fans, remembered former captain Davide Astori, who was found dead in his hotel room in March 2018 prior to a match in Udine.
This year has already seen a second similar incident in Serie A, following a collapse by Evan Ndicka, Roma defender, during his team’s match in Udine in April.
Bove developed through the Roma youth ranks and joined Fiorentina on loan in the summer with an option to purchase.
Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian Napoli scorer who spent the last season with Roma alongside Bove, posted a photo of the two players during a match and added the caption: “I love you, little brother. We’re all with you.”
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative AI tool.
