Fiorentina’s Bove has defibrillator installed after collapse: media

Edoardo Bove has had a defibrillator fitted after the Fiorentina midfielder’s on-pitch cardiac arrest earlier this month, Italian media reported on Tuesday.

Sky Sport and Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that the operation was carried out on Tuesday morning at the Careggi hospital in Florence, where Bove has been since collapsing during Fiorentina’s Serie A fixture with Inter Milan on December 1.

The match was stopped and then called off while Bove was rushed to the intensive care unit, where serious damage to the 22-year-old’s central nervous and cardio-respiratory systems was quickly ruled out.

Bove has been awake and undergoing tests in hospital for just over a week and is reportedly set to be discharged in the coming days after his operation.

Fiorentina later said that “the operation which Edoardo Bove underwent was successful”, without specifying the exact procedure.

“Edoardo contacted the club a few minutes ago and said that he is fine and will continue his post-operation recovery programme before being discharged from hospital in the next few days,” said Fiorentina.

If confirmed, the installation of a defibrillator would mean Bove’s football career in Italy is at risk due to stringent health regulations which govern sport in the country.

Christian Eriksen had to leave Inter Milan in 2021 in the wake of his cardiac arrest and collapse while playing for Denmark at that year’s European Championship.

Eriksen was banned from playing in Italian football after having an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, fitted but now plays for Manchester United and still represents his country.