LAST UPDATE | 6 Mar 2018
An autopsy has shown Fiorentina captain Davide Astori died from natural causes that led to heart problems, Udine’s public prosecutor said on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday just hours ahead of his side’s scheduled Serie A match with Udinese. Antonio De Nicolo has now confirmed Astori died after his heart gradually slowed to a stop, with no sign of any external causes.
Speaking to Rai, he said the autopsy indicated “cardiac death without macroscopic evidence, likely with a bradyarrhythmia basis”. He added: “From the preliminary results, it does not seem there are any external causes other than that of a natural death, but prudently our advisers say we must wait for the result of histological examinations before declaring anything definitively.
“They have asked for 60 days to complete their report and, from that point, we will have a complete picture.”
A funeral for Astori is now expected to be held on Thursday.
De Nicolo said on Monday that criminal proceedings were opened “on the hypothesis of manslaughter against unknown persons”, as part of the investigation into how Astori died so suddenly. The manslaughter process was understood to have been initiated to allow a full autopsy to take place and was not linked to any individual, with De Nicolo describing the theory as “purely abstract”, according to ANSA.
Tributes have continued to come in from across the football world, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Dani Alves describing Astori as “an admirable person”, while former AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani said the former Rossoneri youth player was “one of our boys”.
A minute’s silence will be held before all Champions League and Europa League matches this week, while both Fiorentina and Cagliari have retired the number 13 shirt as a mark of respect.
- Omni
We need a 10 who wont be involved with Ireland so it’s a good signing, he won’t shunt Madigan and covers if Madigan is away
Great signing. He’s a perfect foil for Madigan in many ways. Playing style is more about control than Madigan’s gunslinging, he’s a great kicker from hand and tee plus he’ll be the steady hand we need at 10 when Madser is called up to the Irish squad next year.
Hopefully we’ve a big Aussie outside back signing on the way too…
Who’s that?
Madigan just can’t catch a break
Jimmy Cowen gave him some shot in that video
Should we not wait and see how he performs?
Where’s the fun in that….? ;-)
He is average at best. Seen him play quite a bit when he played with the Hurricanes. Doesn’t have the bottle for top level rugby.
What a load of utter crap. Jimmy was actually just starting to play his best rugby before he left. He is like the other 10 that left by the name of Nick a sorry loss to our fair shores. You sir have no class
Thy need to spend money to shore up 4 & 5 – not another 10……
Well they signed McCarthy from Connacht and Ben Marshall looks like a promising young prospect in their academy.
Fair point – McCarthy decent operator & haven’t seen the other guy in action, but its when we have a Hines, Elsom or Thorn that things start to happen …. great if we can grow our own of that capability.
Hmm. I wouldn’t b as positive about this guy… Id put him in a similar bracket as steenson but he’s Irish. I guess the financial reasons had a hand in this signing…
lol, why all the red thumbs??? Did i offend the poor Leinster new guy?? Hope Im wrong but cant see this guy being any more than an average Rabo player……
He’s perfect, as he won’t stunt Madigan but can step in when needed.
I for one don’t want Leinster signing players who get in the way of home grown players but players who can do a squad job when the irfu get in the way
Steenson is Irish. Look him up.
ERM….I know, I said that….
No but he’s taking a NIQ place. My point is Steenson wouldn’t have and at 28, is unlikely to feature in green….
Np ;-)
Cain I have the greatest admiration for Munster Rugby and always hope they do well unless they are playing Leinster.
Cian sorry the auto correct got the better of me.
Every province needs stand-in players when Ireland duties call. Leinster have been fortunate in the likes of Contepomi and Nacewa and hopefully this new recruit will make his own impact. The Rabo is not a second rate completion as Munster is finding out. Hopefully they will make the top four? It’s no longer a given.
Should read competition
I don’t think we will 2 b honest…. All our eggs are in the Heineken Cup basket I think….