Italian soccer has been rocked at
the sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori at the age
of 31.
As tributes flowed in and matches were postponed for
mourning, Udine chief prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo said Monday a
probe had been opened into Astori's death, with the possible
charge being culpable manslaughter.
The probe is so far against person or persons unknown.
"It's our duty to establish if Astori's death happened as a
tragic fatality or whether someone should have noticed
something, said De Nicolo.
"At the moment there is not responsibility by anyone, or
anyone we think might have to answer for something," the
prosecutor said.
The opening of the judicial probe, De Nicolo said, "will
enable us to ascertain responsibilities, if there are any, in
the people who followed him on a day-to-day basis, in training
and on the field".
An autopsy will be performed on Tuesday, medical sources said
Monday.
The Italy defender was found in his Udine hotel room having
died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old centre back, who had 14 Italy caps, is
thought to have died of a cardiac arrest stemming from natural
causes, a prosecutor said.
He was in the northern city with the Florence club for a
league match against Udinese.
All of Sunday's Serie A and Serie B matches were postponed as
a sign of mourning.
Flags hung at halfmast at the Azzurri training camp at
Coverciano outside Florence on Monday, as a sign of mourning for
Astori.
All national teams including the women's team which is set to
play Finland in the Cyprus Cup final on Wednesday will taje the
field with black arm bands, the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC)
said Monday.
Fiorentina, for its part, will resume training on Tuesday,
the Florence club said Monday.
Meanwhile tributes continued to flow in for the late central
defender, a very popular figure.
FIFA and UEFA paid tribute to "a great player and great man"
while Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich
were among the foreign clubs to send their condolences to
Astori's family.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
