22-year-old Colombian football player passes away during practice, R.I.P.

Andres Balanta, a Colombian midfielder who had collapsed during a training session for Atletico Tucuman of Argentina’s first division, died on Tuesday at the Tucumán Health Center hospital. Balanta, 22, reportedly received emergency care from medical professionals who attempted to revive him; however, his demise was later confirmed.

He was declared dead when he arrived at the Centro de Salud hospital after attempts to revive him by the club’s medical staff proved unsuccessful. It was the club’s second preseason workout.

The defensive midfielder, who had previously played for Deportivo Cali, joined Atletico in July 2021 after representing Colombia at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup.

The club informed his family of his death. The club’s leaders announced in a conference that “we put everything at our disposal so that they come to this province as soon as possible.”

According to the Clarin newspaper, Balanta was hospitalized for a related issue in 2019. Then, while in training, he passed out and had to be hospitalised. The MRI and electrocardiogram that were done on him at the time did not reveal anything out of the ordinary, but Clarin noted that the patient had experienced a metabolic-type syncope (light fainting) caused by low glucose.

A club football player named Fabricio Navarro, age 21, passed away in June of this year from a heart attack while he was sleeping.