![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) # No evidence that FIFA players are more often victims of heart problems 8.12.2021, 6:30 p.m. (CET) The number of FIFA players who died in 2021 is said to have increased by 500%, according to a screenshot circulating on Facebook (post archived here). From December 2020, “183 professional athletes and coaches participated suddenly collapsed! 108 of them died! », says the text. ## Assessment There is no evidence that FIFA players would be more often victims of heart attacks since the launch of vaccination against Covid-19. The article originating these claims uses methods very unreliable. ## Facts The screenshot shared on Facebook refers to an article published on the Israeli site “Real Time News”, as well as an English summary appearing on the Substack platform. This last publication mainly covers a Twitter thread of Yaffa Shir-Raz, who presents herself as a health journalist and as one of the authors of the article. These publications mention a growing number of FIFA players, the International Football Federation, died due to illness sudden heart attacks, and, in the case of the “Real Time News” article, the vaccination against Covid-19. The article examines all cases where an athlete (all sports combined) has had a heart attack between December 2020, the period when vaccination against Covid-19 began, and November 2021. They would thus have identified 183 such cases, of which 108 were fatal. A list of these 108 cases is also available at the end of the article, and links to publications in different languages. These come from sometimes blogs or media, which do not always report a deaths and do not necessarily specify the vaccination status of people concerned. The “Real Time News” article does not provide much explanation of the how these cases were found and provides only a few examples, notably that of Christian Eriksen. However, the Danish footballer had not not yet been vaccinated at the time of his illness which occurred in the middle of a football match the Euro in June 2021, as the dpa explained at the time. For another athlete, Alexaida Guedez, victim of cardiac arrest, her Vaccination status was not known. A 12-year-old American boy, Jayson Kidd, died after basketball training from causes of pre-existing heart disease. These two athletes appeared on a list of several athletes already verified by the dpa, which concluded that, in the vast majority of cases, no causal link with vaccination against Covid-19 could not be established. The accuracy of the figure of 108 fatal cases cited by “Real Time News” and on social networks is therefore highly questionable. No trend noted by FIFA What about the alleged 500% increase in the number of deaths among FIFA players in 2021? The “Real Time News” article mentions 21 FIFA players who would have suddenly died in 2021. To compare this figure and define a trend, the authors used a Wikipedia list footballers who died during a match. Yaffa Shir-Raz explains that, according to Wikipedia, there were an average of 4.2 deaths per year attributed to heart problems between 2001 and 2020. This figure would therefore be multiplied by 5 in 2021. Both the list established by “Real Time News” and the calculation methods used are doubtful. The conclusions of the article have already been denounced notably in audits by the dpa and Le Monde. Dr. Florian Egger, from the commission in charge of the “register of dead sudden cardiac events" in football, attached to FIFA, declared to AFP that there are "no more deaths among footballers than before the pandemic” of Covid-19, and not having noticed any particular dynamics by compared to previous years. Also contacted by Reuters, FIFA indicated that it was not aware of an increase in heart attacks among its players and that no cases of this type has not been reported in people who have been vaccinated. There is therefore no evidence that football players would be more often victims of heart attacks since the start of the various vaccination campaigns against Covid-19. (Inventory as of 08/12/2021) ## Links Facebook post (archived) Israeli article (archived) Summary in English (archived) Yaffa Shir-Raz Twitter thread (archived) Yaffa Shir-Raz (archived) List of cases (archived) dpa fact check on Christian Eriksen dpa fact-check on the list of athletes Wikipedia list (archived) dpa fact check on FIFA players Fact-check from Le Monde (archived) Dr. Florian Egger (archived) FIFA Register (archived) AFP fact-check (archived) Reuters fact check (archived) Contact the dpa fact-checking team: factcheck- belgium@dpa.com powered by dpa-newslab | Imprint | Privacy | About:
500 increase in FIFA player deaths in 2021 108 professional athletes suffering sudden deaths since December