Ndicka, illness on the pitch: Udinese-Roma suspended

by our correspondent Andrea Pugliese

April 14, 2024 (changed at 9.33pm) – UDINE

Fear for Evan Ndicka. The Roma centre-back, in the 72nd minute of the match against Udinese, touched his chest twice and then collapsed to the ground. Referee Pairetto immediately stopped the game, thus allowing the stretcher to enter the pitch.

what happened

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Ndicka, 24 years old, who arrived in Rome in the summer, left the pitch making the ok gesture to the crowd present. Daniele De Rossi immediately went to the changing rooms to make sure of the central defender’s condition, then spoke with Cioffi – Udinese coach -, with the manager of the Juventus technical area Federico Balzaretti and with the match director. The players didn’t feel like continuing, so Pairetto stopped the game. The match was definitively suspended with a score of 1-1 in the 72nd minute, under the applause of encouragement from the Bluenergy Arena for the central defender. Ndicka was transported to the Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital in Udine, where he carried out the tests, in code yellow.

situation

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From the first tests carried out in the locker room, it seems to have been a heart problem, as the electrocardiogram showed, but the use of a defibrillator was not needed. After the illness Ndicka never lost consciousness. His life is not in danger. The Roma bus, with Daniele De Rossi and the entire team and staff, immediately went to the hospital to check on the condition of his teammate. De Rossi, Pellegrini and the CEO Lina Souloukou were allowed to speak to the player after consulting with the doctors, so they joined the rest of the group. Ndicka, who is totally out of danger of his life, will remain under observation in hospital as a precaution – further tests would have ruled out a heart attack – while the whole team left the hospital around 9.30pm to return to the capital.