adminBELGIAN footballer Gregory Mertens has died of heart failure, three days after collapsing during a match.
The 24-year-old Lokeren player was treated on the pitch during the first half of Monday’s reserve-team game with Genk but did not recover after time in hospital on a life-support machine.
A club statement said: “The medical staff have done everything to save Gregory, but they finally had to acknowledge their impotence.
“Gregory passed away at around 16:30.”
The former Belgium Under-21 international’s condition had worsened since he was taken to hospital in Genk, with doctors giving him little chance of survival. On Thursday his family agreed his life support should be switched off. Mertens passed all pre-season health tests required by Europe’s football governing body Uefa, and was judged to be one of the fittest players at his club. — BBC Sport.
Online Reporter