THIS evening’s Serie A match between Udinese and Roma was officially suspended after Cote d’Ivoire defender Evan Ndicka was stretchered off the field of play with chest pains.
The Roma centre-back, who was a key player for Cote d’Ivoire as they won the AFCON 2023 Africa Cup of Nations title on home soil in February, sat himself down on the ground after raising his hand to his chest to call for attention.
The medical staff were immediately summoned, and Ndicka was rushed off the pitch on a stretcher. He was able to give a thumbs up to supporters on his way off the field.
Play had only just resumed after an interruption, which was caused by a pitch invader attempting to grab a selfie with Paulo Dybala.
As the 24-year-old Ndicka was being attended to, play was suspended for over 15 minutes.
Referee Luca Pairetto told the teams that he would respect the wishes of the players and coaching staff over the continuation of play.
“Following the on-field medical emergency involving Evan Ndicka, the match between Udinese and Roma has been suspended,” Roma stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The player is conscious and has been taken to hospital for further checks.
Forza Evan, we are all with you!”
It is not clear when the remaining action of the match will be played, but Football Italia reported that when it does, it will be resumed from the same scoreline and from the minute where play stopped.
At the time of Ndicka’s collapse, there were 18 minutes plus stoppage time left on the clock, with the scores level at 1-1.
During the match proper, Super Eagles of Nigeria goalkeeper Maduka Okoye was impressive for Udinese and stood between Roma and a goal until Romelu Lukaku headed them level in the 64th minute.
