Prosecutors have a requested former doctor Giorgio Galanti receive an 18-month jail sentence for manslaughter following the death of former Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
Astori was found dead in his hotel room following a cardiac arrest on March 4, 2018 ahead of a match against Udinese. He was 31.
At the time of Astori’s death, Galanti was medical director at the Careggi University Hospital Sports Medicine Reference Centre in Florence.
The prosecution disputes the issuing of two different certificates by Galanti validating Astori’s fitness to play football: one produced in July 2016 and the other in July 2017.
The prosecution argue Astori died from the failure to diagnose an arrhythmogenic becomericular cardiomyopathy.
A technical consultation carried out by experts on behalf of the prosecution found the two certificates were issued despite the emergence of cardiac arrhythmias in stress tests, which should have forced the doctors to carry out more in-depth diagnostic tests.
Further testing would have been necessary to rule out organic heart disease or an arrhythmogenic syndrome. If this had been diagnosed at an early phase it could have interrupted Astori’s agonistic activity and, through the prescription of drugs, slow the disease down and prevent the onset of malignant ventricular arrhythmias.
Astori spent the majority of his career at Cagliari and Fiorentina, while he also spent the 2013-14 season on loan at Roma. He earned 14 Italy caps.