An investigation has been opened into the possibility that Fiorentina captain Davide Astori was the victim of manslaughter, after he was found dead at the team’s hotel in Udine on Sunday morning. The player’s autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday, and the city’s lead prosecutor, Antonio De Nicolo, made it plain that the cause of death had not yet been ascertained.

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During an interview with Radio Rai, De Nicolo stated: “We have opened criminal proceedings with a hypothesis of manslaughter. For now, the charge is made against unknown persons and we have arranged the autopsy to take place shortly.”

Speaking later to the news agency Ansa, De Nicolo portrayed the move as standard procedure. Under the Italian legal system prosecutors must open criminal proceedings in order to request an autopsy.

“It is our duty to ascertain whether the death of Astori was a tragic act of fate or if someone should have known something,” said De Nicolo. “At this moment in time, there is no individual with responsibilities that appear to correspond to anything [in this case].

“The launching of this judicial process will allow us to identify if any responsibility does exist among those people who looked after him.”

All indications were that Astori had died of natural causes. A tweet by his club, Fiorentina, made reference to an “improvviso malore” – best translated as a “sudden illness”. De Nicolo had suggested on Sunday that prosecutors were working on the theory that the player had suffered a heart attack, though he also raised his concerns with that idea.

“What is striking is that we are talking about a young man who was followed closely by doctors, because he is a professional,” said De Nicolo. “If he had any cardiac issues then they should have come out.” The newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Astori and his Fiorentina team-mates had undergone routine cardiograms and blood tests last Wednesday.

Uefa has announced that a minute’s silence will be held to honour Astori before all of this week’s games in the Europa League and Champions League. Italy’s women’s team will wear black armbands for upcoming games in the Cyprus Cup, as will the Under-19 and Under-17 teams in forthcoming fixtures.

