The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has suspended all domestic action this weekend following the death of defender Emanuel Ortega.
The 21-year-old Ortega was announced dead on Thursday, 11 days after suffering severe head injuries during the Primera C match between San Martin de Burzaco and Juventud Unida.
Ortega, who was on-loan at San Martin de Burzaco from Primera side Banfield, collided with a wall very close to the pitch that separated the supporters when challenging for the ball close to the touchline.
The player received immediate attention and was rushed to a hospital, but he had suffered a double skull fracture and had multiple blood clots on the brain.
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Doctors put him into an induced coma and operated to try and reduce the swelling, but his condition continued to worsen until Thursday morning when he was declared dead.
The AFA has now decided that all of this weekend’s league games will be postponed as a mark of respect to Ortega.
“Everyone agreed to it,” Luis Segura, president of the AFA, said.
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“One shouldn’t play, out of respect for the magnitude of the tragedy. I don’t think anyone is in the mood to think about a football match.”
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