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Footballers suffering from COVID-19 effects after initial recovery
Very few top-level footballers have suffered from life-threatening bouts of COVID-19, but the longer-term effects of the virus are now being seen in the game, with one study suggesting even players' passing quality can suffer.
There have been several high-profile cases of COVID-19 effects preventing players returning to the pitch immediately after testing negative for the virus.
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who was not vaccinated, missed two months of action due to lung damage, while Juventus forward Paulo Dybala said he struggled with a "shortness of breath" when he returned in 2020 after testing positive.
Even seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi admitted that he needed "more time than expected to recover" after contracting COVID-19 over the winter break.
There have been a handful of more serious cases in professional football.
Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow spent three days on a hospital drip, Montpellier winger Junior Sambia was hospitalised in intensive care and Nantes' Jean-Kevin Augustin has not started a first-team game since 2019 due to COVID-19.
Researchers from the universities of Duesseldorf and Reading saw results from a study, into 257 Bundesliga and Serie A players who returned after suffering with COVID-19, that suggested performance levels also fell.
The study found that players' passing success rate fell by up to 5 percent and that the virus affected footballers over the age of 30 more seriously.
It also suggested that teams with the most players who had recovered from COVID-19 had worse results than their rivals.
"So far, the results suggest a permanent alteration in the player's abilities," said James Reade, director of the economics department at the University of Reading and co-author of the study, albeit with a caveat.
There have been reports of players struggling from cardiac inflammation, including Gabon duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Lemina, who both left the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations to recover from COVID-19.
But French football federation medical director Emmanuel Orhant said there was no definite link between the virus and increased risk of cardiac problems for footballers.
He found, in December 2020, that 2.2 percent of 350 players who tested positive had a cardiac issue.
There have been several high-profile cases of COVID-19 effects preventing players returning to the pitch immediately after testing negative for the virus.
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who was not vaccinated, missed two months of action due to lung damage, while Juventus forward Paulo Dybala said he struggled with a "shortness of breath" when he returned in 2020 after testing positive.
Even seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi admitted that he needed "more time than expected to recover" after contracting COVID-19 over the winter break.
There have been a handful of more serious cases in professional football.
Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow spent three days on a hospital drip, Montpellier winger Junior Sambia was hospitalised in intensive care and Nantes' Jean-Kevin Augustin has not started a first-team game since 2019 due to COVID-19.
Researchers from the universities of Duesseldorf and Reading saw results from a study, into 257 Bundesliga and Serie A players who returned after suffering with COVID-19, that suggested performance levels also fell.
The study found that players' passing success rate fell by up to 5 percent and that the virus affected footballers over the age of 30 more seriously.
It also suggested that teams with the most players who had recovered from COVID-19 had worse results than their rivals.
"So far, the results suggest a permanent alteration in the player's abilities," said James Reade, director of the economics department at the University of Reading and co-author of the study, albeit with a caveat.
There have been reports of players struggling from cardiac inflammation, including Gabon duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Lemina, who both left the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations to recover from COVID-19.
But French football federation medical director Emmanuel Orhant said there was no definite link between the virus and increased risk of cardiac problems for footballers.
He found, in December 2020, that 2.2 percent of 350 players who tested positive had a cardiac issue.
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