Italian FA: Eriksen Won’t Play in Italy Again Unless His Defibrillator REMOVED

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 revealed.

The 29-year-old collapsed during his country’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland on June 12 and required urgent CPR treatment from pitchside medics. Eriksen was brought back to life on the pitch but the remainder of his football career remains in doubt.

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 that 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.’

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 is postponed just after 6 pm that evening and Eriksen was seen sitting upright whilst being stretchered off with an oxygen mask on his mouth just minutes later.

He was admitted to the hospital before the Danish FA confirmed that he was awake and conscious, while his agent Michael Schoots revealed later that evening that he was able to speak and talk whilst receiving more checks. The Denmark players then decided to finish off the match after hearing the news of Eriksen’s recovery.

Eriksen was released from the hospital on June 18 after six days of hospital treatment, which saw him being fitted with an ICD, a device connected to the heart by wires and sends an electrical pulse to correct irregular rhythms.

Danish team doctor Morten Boesen said after Eriksen’s release from the hospital: ‘This device is necessary after a cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances.

‘Christian has accepted the solution and the plan has been confirmed by specialists nationally and internationally who all recommend the same treatment.’