Joao Cancelo was absent as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid in La Liga over the weekend as a medical precaution following concerns over a possible heart condition.
Cancelo has started 22 of the 26 league games that Barca have played since he arrived on loan from Manchester City late in the summer transfer window. That has predominantly been as a left-back since the turn of the calendar year, but his name missing from the squad list in Madrid was curious.
It has become apparent from an RAC1 report that Cancelo received medical advice to sit the game out. One of the defender’s relatives has been diagnosed with a heart condition and club staff want to rule out that it is a hereditary condition that could affect him too.
Cancelo has been a regular for Barcelona this season / Soccrates Images/GettyImages
Underlying undiagnosed heart problems can be life threatening in professional football and caution is vital if there is even a small chance that a player could be vulnerable.
Sergio Aguero retired just four games into his Barcelona career last season after chest discomfort was revealed by hospital tests to be cardiac arrhythmia. Daley Blind was diagnosed with heart muscle inflammation after suffering from dizziness during a game in 2019 and was later fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) that would detect an irregular heartbeat. Christian Eriksen plays with a similar device fitted after he collapsed on the pitch at Euro 2020.
Sadly, tragedy has struck in a number of cases over the years. Marc-Vivien Foe passed away in 2003 when he collapsed during a Confederations Cup match, while hereditary arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy was attributed as the cause of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta’s death in 2007.
