All European cup matches scheduled for this week will begin with a minute's silence in memory of Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel, who died after a collision with a goalkeeper during a game. The footballer was 30 years old.
The incident occurred at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium during a Spanish second division match between Tenerife and Andorra. In one passage of play, the visitors' goalkeeper Jesús Owono collided with de Miguel and struck him in the chest with his knee while trying to beat him to the ball.
The forward suffered a cardiac arrest. Medics managed to restore his heartbeat, after which the footballer was taken to hospital, but he could not be saved. Tenerife announced the player's death on the morning of 3 November.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation postponed all matches scheduled for that day.
Owono received a red card for using excessive force in the challenge for the ball. According to the Spanish media, the goalkeeper could face a suspension as well as criminal proceedings. The legal assessment of the incident will depend on whether the court considers the goalkeeper's actions to have gone beyond the acceptable risk inherent in the game.
After the tragedy, Owono became the target of harassment on social media, with some users calling him a murderer. Spanish journalist Eneko Pérez Carrasco spoke out in defence of the goalkeeper, stressing that the collision was an accident and that accusations of deliberately causing harm were unfair. According to local media, Owono himself is deeply shaken by what happened.
Doctors believe the cause of death may have been a rare condition, commotio cordis, a disruption of the heart rhythm that can occur after a strong blow to the chest, even in a person with no known heart disease. It can lead to ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest.
