CUSCO, PERU--Fans of Peruvian soccer are mourning the death of Yair Clavijo, 18, who died on Sunday during a match in Cusco.
The Peruvian footballer suffered a “cerebral edema and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (an underlying heart condition),” according to the autopsy performed in Cusco on Monday, Depor.pe reported.
The unfortunate incident took place during a Peruvian First Division match between Sporting Cristal and Real Garcilaso, when the young man was representing SC in a reserve team match. Clavijo appeared to suffer (sudden cardiac arrest) which killed him instantly.
According to witnessed at the stadium, the 18-year-old reserve collapsed only minutes before the end of the game. At that point, medics rushed to attempt to save the young man, but the personnel and a nearby stadium ambulance were not equipped with a defibrillator, which may have saved his life.
Sporting Cristal’s manager, Gustavo Zevallos, told El Comercio that the stadium is to blame because the ambulance didn´t have a defibrillator, which is required by FIFA, the sport’s governing body.
Some fans and national team players Jefferson Farfan and Yordy Reyna, blame Cusco’s high altitude, which is above 11,000 feet, for being of harm to the youngster.
The head of the Peruvian Football Federation´s medical committee, Dr. Carlos Bazan, sacked this notion.
“There are risks to playing at high altitude, but we don´t believe it had a direct relationship in this young man’s death,” he told RPP radio.
Dr. Bazan did mention that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which coroners in Cusco determined was the cause of Clavijo’s death, could have been detected with a routine echocardiogram.
The doctor called the medical screening policies of some Peruvian team “lax and disreputable.”
Clavijo was seen as part of the next generation not only for Sporting Cristal, but as a key player for the national team in years to come. He represented his country as a member of Peru´s Under-18 National team.
SOURCE: Peru This Week