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Yesterday the football world yet again had been enlightened to news of another footballer collapsing & unfortunately dying while playing the game they loved.

Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng had collapsed on the pitch in the 70th minute during a league game against Viitorul the Romanian League. After attempts to resuscitate him, and continued to receive mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he was pronounced dead just over two hours later.

A thought that floated in my mind was “Isn’t odd how so many of the players that suffer these cardiac arrests are black and/or a lot of the time born & bred in Africa? Maybe I was overreacting, but I came across a list which backed up my thoughts.

Black/African Footballers that have died suffering Cardiac Arrests while playing:

– Samuel Okwaraji (Nigeria)

– Amir Angwe (Nigeria)

– Hedi Berkhissa (Tunisia)

– John Ikoroma (Nigeria)

– Bobsam Elejiko (Nigeria)

– Endurance Idahor (Nigeria)

– Chinonso Ihelwere Henry (Nigeria)

– Victor Omogbehin (England)

– Marc-Viven Foe (Cameroon)

– Mohammed Abdelwahab (Egypt)

– Chaswe Nsofwa (Nigeria)

– Guy Tchingoma (Gabon)

– Orobosan Adun (Nigeria)

– Sekou Camara (Mali)

– Shetemi Ayetigbo (Ireland)

– David Oniya (Nigeria)

– Kodjo Etonam Adjassou (Togo)

– Bart Opoku (Ghana)

– Benjamin Owusu (Ghana)

– Mohamed Lemine M’Boye (Tanzania)

– Ambrose Wleh (Liberia)

– Patrick Ekeng (Cameroon)

(These are players whos deaths were more documented for a number of reasons & there is a greater chance that many more African & black players have suffered from cardiac arrest related deaths while playing football. Recreationally or professionally)

In 2011, Bolton Midfielder Patrice Muamba fatally collapsed at White Hart Lane during a match against Spurs & was one of the lucky few to survive an on-pitch Cardiac Arrest. That near-fatal moment sparked a worldwide debate about not just footballers but sportsmen & sportswomen suffering heart attacks while playing. On the topic of black & African footballers, there is evidence based research that they could potentially be more prone to suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.

The average black person is more likely than any other race to experience sudden cardiac arrest and at a much earlier age, according to research published by the American Heart Association. The study found that 175 Black men and 90 Black women per 100,000 people go through sudden cardiac arrest, in comparison to 84 White men and 40 White women per 100,000 people. Additionally, there are several risk factors for heart disease and non-coronary heart problems that prove to be more prevalent for Blacks than other races.

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers’ also found that genetic mutation associated with an increased risk of heart disease, type-2 diabetes and other health problems is common in Africans and/or people of African descent worldwide. Over 40 million of them in fact.

Analysis of worldwide data revealed that the “R145C” variant of the ApoE gene (short for Apolipoprotein E) is found in 5 percent to 12 percent of Africans and people of African descent, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa. The variant is VERY rare in people who are not African or of African descent.

The immediate cause of most sudden cardiac arrests is an abnormal heart rhythm. The heart’s electrical activity becomes chaotic, and it can’t pump blood to the rest of the body.

For an African footballer, stress seems to be one factor that plays a part in these reoccurring cardiac arrests. The game of football for many, especially for those from poorer backgrounds, is more of a day job than anything. The pressure of providing for their families back in their homelands could take it’s toll on them.

Also with many African nations not having the adequate modern equipment to detect potential heart problems, there is a greater risk of hereditary or developing health issues that don’t get the necessary diagnosis. With some of these people being footballers or sportsmen playing in Africa or even going to play abroad, especially in more obscure parts of the World, teams in those nations too potentially may not have the ideal equipment such as a Defibrillator to defect any heart issues, putting them at an even greater risk. But this could be easily argued in Muamba’s case, who was playing for an established Premier League team with adequate financial stability at the time of his collapsing.

In 2012, FIFA launched the “FIFA Medical Emergency Bag and FIFA 11 Steps” to prevent sudden cardiac death. Giving all 209 FIFA member associations a Medical Emergency Bag (FMEB).

The 11 steps were aimed at raising the level of awareness and appropriate action for all those involved with football internationally. These efforts follow the decision of the FIFA Congress 2012 to provide each of the 209 MAs with an AED as an indication of the importance of the prevention of sudden cardiac death.

I can’t say if this has helped prevent cardiac arrests in football as a whole. But it does seem to be raising more awareness across the globe about the severity of a cardiac arrest. While we many never get a full answer as to why many sufferers of these problems seem to be born in Africa or are black people, what we can say is that greater protection is potentially needed for every single footballer across the globe, especially the aforementioned set of players in that specification.

A pure coincidence or a greater problem that needs more addressing? You decide.