Four young, healthy soccer players have died in the space of one week after suddenly suffering fatal heart attacks.
Sports fans around the world have been left stunned as the young athletes passed away over the Christmas period.
Croatian Marin Cacic, 23, Algerian Soufiane Lokar, 30, Omani Makhlid Al Raqadi, 29, and Egypt’s Ahmed Amin, 25, all died in the past week after suffering massive cardiac arrests.
They were all young, fit, healthy, and had no pre-existing conditions.
Officials have yet to determine why the athletes have all suddenly suffered catastrophic heart failure.
The bodies are currently being examined to determine the root causes of death.
On December 22, Oman international player Mukhaled Al-Raqadi tragically died after collapsing during a warm-up ahead of a domestic match with Al-Suwaiq.
Al-Raqadi was rushed to the nearest hospital by ambulance.Â
The reason for his death was a heart attack, the Oman observer reported.
On the same day, Egypt’s third division’s Al-Rebat & Al-Anwar SC goalkeeper, Ahmed Amin passed away after suffering a sudden heart attack.
Amin suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness in the locker room after his training with his team.Â
The club’s medical team tried to revive him unsuccessfully and promptly rushed him to the hospital.
He was pronounced dead on arrival and the cause of death was cardiac arrest.
Croatian defender Marin Cacic died in hospital just days after collapsing during a training session.
He was immediately rushed to the hospital and was diagnosed with heart failure.
He was then put in a comatose state.
Sadly on December 23rd, he was pronounced dead.
The most recent death is an Algerian footballer, Sofiane Loukar.
Loukar suffered a heart attack and died after colliding with his goalkeeper in a second division match in Oran on Saturday.
The APS agency said 28-year-old Loukar, from Mouloudia Saida, was hurt after running into his goalkeeper mid-way through the first half of their Ligue 2 clash at ASM Oran.
He resumed playing after treatment but then collapsed some 10 minutes later, the agency reported.
Loukar was rushed to hospital but died of a heart attack on his way, APS said.
When news of his death was broken to the two teams, they abandoned the match.
