Video: Teenage footballer dies in match

An 18 year-old footballer died of heart failure in a reserve match in Peru on Sunday.

Tragedy struck Peruvian football on Sunday when an 18-year old player died during a match in the nation’s ‘Reserve’s league’.

Yair Clavijo of Sporting Cristal suffered cardio-respiratory arrest late in their game against Real Garcilaso at Urcos Stadium.

The medical staff tried to resuscitate him using CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) but the player was declared dead on the pitch.

According to Peru’s El Comercio newspaper, quoting a report from Peruvian Football Association, Sporting Cristal coach Gustavo Zevallos said after the tragedy that “… the ambulance didn’t have a defibrillator.”

Access to a defibrillator is required by law in Peru for all matches in the top flight and reserves.

Clavijo’s death also raises the issue of the dangers footballers face when playing at altitude.

Clavijo, whose father was also a football player, was considered one of the greatest young midfield talents at Sporting Cristal.

It is thought he could have developed into a real star at national level.