Fiorentina’s game at Udinese in northeast Italy was called off, along with all fixtures in the country’s top two divisions. UDINE, Italy—Fiorentina captain Davide Astori was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday at the age of 31 after a suspected cardiac arrest before an Italian league match. The English Football Association said it plans to honour Astori when it hosts Italy at Wembley on March 27 in a friendly. Several — many of whom had played with Astori for Italy — walked off in tears and, when the match was officially called off, a picture of Astori was shown on the giant screen, leading to applause throughout the stadium. Cagliari coach Diego Lopez, who played and coached Astori at the Sardinian club, had to receive medical treatment after finding out the news.

Source: thestar March 04, 2018 17:37 UTC