ALL FOOTBALL IN Argentina has been suspended after footballer Emanuel Ortega passed away due to a serious head injury.
In the fifth tier match between San Martin Burzaco and Juventud Unida on May 4, Ortega, 21, went shoulder-to-shoulder with an opposition player next to the touchline, and crashed into a concrete wall close to the pitch.
He had emergency surgery on a double skull fracture, but on Thursday the sad news was confirmed that he had passed away.
“A pity his farewell,” a statement from the Argentina Football Association (AFA) read.
The severity of his injury led to different teams of Argentine football to express their solidarity and support with the player.
“Due to the death of the player, the President of the AFA, Luis Segura, decided to suspend the next date of all categories.
“Argentine soccer wears black to dismiss Emanuel and accompany family and friends at this difficult time.”
I think our league is finally on a rebound from the better years from 1998 to 2010. In 2010 we had our country coefficient down to 27 we are now slowly gaining and back at 40 out of 54. If Dundalk and cork go through we will do another nice jump up the rankings.
Saying that it was unsustainable how the clubs were run through our better period and having the clubs run professional didn’t work out with the lack of fan commitment and if European money was missed. Hopefully this Dundalk team don’t make the same mistakes.
Let’s hope so. But let’s not get too carried away. It’s difficult to forget how awful we were in Europe last season.