[gatagato]

The Argentine Football Association has suspended all play in the country after the death of Emanuel Ortega, who suffered a head injury in a match two weeks ago, the AFA announced Thursday.

"Everyone agreed to it," AFA president Luis Segura, told the Associated Press. "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."

Ortega, 21, hit his head on a concrete wall while playing in a fifth-tier match on May 3. He was jostling for position along the sideline with an opponent when he was pushed from behind. He fractured his skull and died Thursday.


The UK's Daily Mirror has images showing just how close the wall is to the field. The wall anchors a fence designed to prevent fans from throwing objects onto the field. Fan violence is prevalent in Argentine soccer, with 15 deaths tied to soccer-related violence in 2014, according to the BBC.

"Today is not the time to think about taking (safety) measures," Segura said. "We'll see afterward."
http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015...ad-head-injury
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...baller-5696358
https://twitter.com/MarinaButron/sta...871233/photo/1
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...-10249706.html

A heartbreaking Facebook post has since emerged, written by the player in 2012, where he reveals that football was his life:

"

Perhaps I won't ever play football professionally," he wrote. "Maybe I will, or maybe as an amateur, but when I go for each ball I am going to die, when my legs say STOP, my heart says CONTINUE.

"The difference between me and professionals is that when my boots break, I don't change them, I spent all night tidying them up and gluing them back together so I can play again because it is what I love.

"Football is my LIFE, not only a past-time, it is what makes me forget everything else, and I will give my life for it.

"The day that I can't play anymore, that is where my life ends."

[kellyhound]

guess stadium inspections done by a football organisation are a joke over there. concrete wall six feet from the white line ffs.

[genericname79]

How odd that he was conscious on the stretcher and able to lift his head and arm. And then he dies weeks later?

[invertigo]

Originally Posted by genericname79 ↗

How odd that he was conscious on the stretcher and able to lift his head and arm. And then he dies weeks later?

It makes sense. He injured his skull, not his spine, so movement wouldn't have been completely impaired, and what kills people with head trauma is usually the swelling of the brain, which isn't immediate, not the fracture itself.

[spudigitti]

The cunt that tackled him wasn't going for the ball he attacked the player....

[Kelseecat65]

Originally Posted by spudigitti ↗

The cunt that tackled him wasn't going for the ball he attacked the player....

He pushed him right into that wall.

[CrunchyCripple]

He wasn't thinking about the wall. If that push had happened anywhere else on the field, it would have been ok.

If he was being a cunt, he wouldn't have had that immediate reaction of concern and call for help.

The way the field is set up, is dangerous. The white line is way too close to the wall.