Italian player to have removable defibrillator fitted

Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove is to have a removable heart-starter device implanted following his recent collapse in a Serie A game, Italian media reports say.

Bove collapsed on the pitch during Fiorentina's home game with Inter Milan on December 1, leading to the abandonment of the match.

He will have the operation on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), which is part of the medical protocol before he can be discharged from hospital.

The Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), a type of pacemaker that can prevent fatal cardiac arrests by discharging a jolt to restore a regular heart rhythm, is not permitted in Serie A.

Once all the results of the medical examinations carried out in recent days on the 22-year-old Italian have been collected, Bove can then decide whether to have the device removed, which would allow him return to play in the Italian league.

Denmark's Christian Eriksen was unable to continue playing for Inter Milan after having an ICD fitted following a cardiac arrest in 2021 during a European Championship match.

Eriksen later joined English club Brentford after the Serie A club terminated his contract.