The Uruguayan Football Association suspended its domestic competitions on Monday due to the serious health condition of Nacional player Juan Izquierdo, who is in intensive care in Brazil after suffering a heart attack in the middle of a Copa Libertadores match.
“Reflecting the feelings of all levels of football regarding the delicate situation of the player Juan Izquierdo,” the Executive Board of the Primera División Professional de Futbol has decided to “reschedule the second and third stages of the Clausura,” the new dates of which will be: “In brief,” the Uruguayan Football Association said in a statement.
Izquierdo, 27, collapsed on Thursday during a match between Nacional and Sao Paulo for a place in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, and was taken by ambulance from the Morumbi stadium to the Israelita Albert Einstein hospital near the capital Sao Paulo.
The collapse of the Nacional defender, who, according to the attending doctors, went into “unspecified cardiac arrest, as a result of an irregular heartbeat”, had already caused the cancellation of the weekend’s matches in the Uruguayan domestic championship.
– “Very serious” condition –
“Juan’s situation is very serious and very delicate,” Nacional president Alejandro Balbi told Uruguayan radio Carve Deportiva on Monday from Sao Paulo.
Balbi said Izquierdo had a “health breakdown” on Sunday, which “worsened his condition” and a new medical report is expected in the next few hours.
The latest bulletin, issued Sunday afternoon, noted “an evolution of the brain injury and an increase in intracranial pressure” in Izquierdo, who remains dependent on mechanical ventilation.
“The passage of hours is essential,” Balbi stressed.
Ten years ago, Izquierdo discovered he had a “slight arrhythmia” during routine studies of youth teams, National Sports Secretariat director Sebastian Bauza said Monday.
Balbi said on Friday that in the national club’s annual electrocardiogram, Izquierdo did not show any heart attack or any aspect of the injury.
The Libertadores match ended on Thursday minutes after Izquierdo was taken to hospital, but Sao Paulo’s 2-0 win and Nacional’s elimination from the continental competition overshadowed the incident, which sparked widespread solidarity outside the football community.
“This is no longer an issue that concerns Uruguay, or South America, but has become completely global,” Balbi said Monday. “The expressions of affection we have received are priceless.”
The Nacional president said the club’s squad, already in Montevideo, was very affected by the situation. The players were unable to train, and a Zoom session was held on Monday with the team’s psychologist, who is in Sao Paulo, to support Izquierdo’s family.
“We are not thinking physically or mentally about being able to compete soon,” Balbi commented.
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