14 Dec 2010

Call for defibrillators at all Spanish football games

5:31 pm on 14 December 2010

The Spanish football players' union wants more clubs to keep heart defibrillators at stadiums.

The devices are mandatory in La Liga after the death of Antonio Puerta three years ago, and the union now wants that rule extended to cover lower-division clubs.

16 players have died suddenly in the last 20 years either on the field or up to several days afterwards from heart attacks, heart failure and cardio-respiratory arrest.