Fiorentina captain and Italy defender Davide Astori has died in his sleep

Fiorentina captain and Italy defender Davide Astori has died in his sleep

The centre-back turned 31 in January and was the captain of the Viola squad, with 14 senior Italy caps and one goal to his name. He became a father two years ago.

The player failed to wake up this morning when he was at the La di Moret hotel in Udine on a training camp with the squad, awaiting today’s match with Udinese.

Fiorentina release a statement to confirm the news.

“Fiorentina are profoundly shaken and forced to announce that their captain Davide Astori has died,” read the statement.

“For this terrible and delicate situation, and above all out of respect for his family, we appeal to the sensitivity of the media.”

“The lad did not turn up to the team breakfast at 9.30am and he was usually the first to arrive,” explained Fiorentina spokesman Arturo Mastronardi.

“So they went to check on him. Davide was sleeping in a room on his own. We still don’t know the cause of death. The Magistrate came here and the body has been taken for an autopsy, which I think will be conducted today. We have no further details.

“The last to see Davide was Marco Sportiello. Some players sleep in single rooms, some in doubles.

“His family is from Bergamo, so his parents were alerted by telephone, whereas his partner was visited in person in Florence by some of the directors who were in the city.

“The team will return to Florence today with a charter plane.”

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