Extensive research has revealed that deaths of professional football/soccer players due to cardiovascular issues doubled every three months in 2021, with the number of footballers who ‘died suddenly’ in December 2021 equalling the annual average over the previous 12 years.
This means as many players died suddenly in just one single month as had previously died on average over a full year.
In all, deaths among professional football/soccer players in 2021 were 4 times the average rate recorded between 2009 and 2020.
The following table shows the total number of listed Fifa football match deaths and male cardiovascular football match deaths to have occurred every year since 2009.