The Football Pro League has circulated the message through all the clubs: it is prudent to provide cardiological examinations for players who have been infected with Covid. The Omicron variant, extremely contagious and a priori less lethal, is indeed likely to generate very harmful side effects for footballers. Cardiac concerns but also muscle glitches likely to endanger the rest of a career are indeed listed across the football planet and closely monitored by the Faculty.
Vigilance is key. At Kavé, three infected players with moderate symptoms were sent by coach Wouter Vrancken to the cardiologist. At La Gantoise, Hein Vanhaezebrouck recently worried, “I hope no one will be infected”.
“The problem is that Omicron is assimilated by the population to a less serious form of the disease, sometimes compared to the flu,” explains Dr. Bourgois in HLN. “This variant is perhaps less aggressive but can have catastrophic consequences for football players”, top athletes whose intense efforts, always at the limit, make their immunity less solid than that of the average athlete.
Around the world, the list of players weakened by Omicron is as long as a day without bread: Victor Lindelöf (Manchester United), Piotr Zielinkski (Naples), Ricardo Gomes (Partizan Belgrade), Adama Traoré (Sheriff Tiraspol), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Mario Lemina (Nice), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)… have in recent weeks been slowed down by heart problems (myocarditis).
Life in a bubble, health caution, regular tests must remain at the heart of players’ daily concerns. And when they are infected, they must be patiently monitored until they return to competition. The medium-term consequences of a Covid infection are not yet precisely known, but doctors seem to agree on the potential danger: it is not to be treated lightly at the risk of shortening a career at high level.
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