Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale Vows to Look After Disabled Sister of Fallen Midfielder
It seemed like a sympathetic global soccer family had only just picked itself up after the shock of Fabrice Muamba’s collapse last month. Then the news broke that Piermario Morosini, a midfielder from Udinese on loan at Livorno, collapsed and died only half an hour in to a Serie B match against Pescara. He was 25 years old.
It is still to be made public if Morosini’s death was due to a cerebral issue or if it was, as suspected, a cardiac arrest. Only days after Muamba’s collapse a young Indian soccer player, known as D. Venkatesh, died of a suspected cardiac arrest during a domestic league match in Bangalore. Understandably there have been renewed calls for more intensive screenings of players following these incidents, with the wealthier leagues questioning why they should not be able to prevent such tragic events.
However, Morosini was not as fortunate as Muamba and as the Italian FA made the right decision to instate a blanket postponement of fixtures following the incident the country took its chance to mourn their fallen comrade. Even Mario Balotelli, a man fabled for his penchant for acting out, spoke reservedly of his respect and sadness when thinking of Morosini, a man he had played alongside for Italy’s Under-21 side.
Now, in a more touching twist, the captain of Morosini’s parent club Udinese, Antonio Di Natale, has vowed that the club and their affiliated charity will strive to look after Morosini’s only living family member, his heavily disabled sister who had relied on the player for support.
In a statement the Italy striker insisted, “We know the situation of his sister and we as a team, the club, and Udinese for Life have decided to help her because she is in real need.
“It is essential to stay by the side of Piermario’s sister for her entire life. She needs us and we want to help, both for her and for Mario.
“When I saw the scene on the TV it was immediately clear that it was something serious. It was a very bad moment. He was an exceptional lad, so full of life. Despite all the problems he had, he was always at the disposal of the team and every day he gave us all strength.”
The people of the Zebrette are doing the right thing here and Di Natale’s words go some way to demonstrating the power of support in times of trouble. Sport always pales into insignificance at times like these, but as minutes of silence are observed around the world the least the soccer fraternity and sorority should expect is that the players are well screened and those associated with the players are consistently going concerns.
There is a lot more to sport than what we are all staring at.
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