'Kalu Is Playing A Very Dangerous Game' - Super Eagles Winger Advised To Open Up To NFF About Heart-Related Irregularities

Published: June 26, 2019

One of the persons who had the responsibility of looking after the career of Samuel Kalu has advised the player to tell the doctors the truth about his history of heart problems.

It will be recalled that the Bordeaux winger collapsed while taking a corner in the Super Eagles last workout on Friday before their opener against Burundi and had to be rushed to the hospital and it was claimed he was suffering from dehydration, not a heart attack.

According to Kobi, who is a close confidant of Kalu, the winger's heart-related irregularities was first discovered at AS Trencin while he was undergoing a medical.

''Kalu should open up to the Nigerian Federation and his club doctors to tell the truth about the discovery made during his previous medical tests and not put his life in grave danger for the sake of money,'' Kobi said to allnigeriasoccer.com.

''When he first arrived in Trencin he actually did not pass the medical tests as doctors found a strange abnormality with his heart and warned about the risk of cardiovascular problems if he played professional football.

''It was heart breaking news for him at the time and he was so nervous about having to go back to Nigeria. After repeated tests, he eventually made the decision to play on and further heart tests were subsequently conducted.''

Some footballers have tragically passed away on the pitch after suffering heart attacks and Kalu has been advised not to put his life in danger.

''We have all witnessed players collapse on the pitch and suddenly it’s bad news. In his case he was lucky to have survived this time but it’s likely a warning sign of the same existing heart abnormality which was first discovered by doctors in Slovakia.

''Withholding such critical information from your doctors who are there to take care of your well being is like playing Russian Roulette with your life, It’s a very dangerous game,'' he concluded.

Kalu trained with the Super Eagles on Tuesday ahead of the Super Eagles second group match of the Africa Cup of Nations against Guinea.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel