Victim of a cardio-respiratory arrest during his summer vacation, Nabil Bentaleb has since seen his career go downhill.
What if the beautiful story resumed its course? When signing for LOSC, Nabil Bentaleb, who will celebrate his 30th birthday in a few weeks, had already experienced a first alert. A heart anomaly is detected during his medical examination in the summer of 2023, and he must then wait many weeks before starting with his new club.
Subsequently becoming an indisputable starter and among Lille's best players, the international (53 caps, 5 goals)
experienced a tragedy during a banal meeting indoor soccer with friends. His heart stops, panic takes hold and the scene, dramatic, strongly reminiscent of that experienced by Christian Eriksen and square Euro.
Hope remains
Since then, there has been little news about him. Our colleagues from the Team today provide some very important information: Bentaleb, first plunged into a coma, then had a defibrillator fitted. Subsequently, because eager to resume the thread of his career as a professional footballerthe Algerian took the same Eriksen as an example and turned to his cardiologist to find a solution.
A protocol was thus imposed on him, in transparency with the medical commission of the French Football Federation. Five steps are necessary to resume high-level practice and Bentaleb, who recently visited his teammates, is at the third. It should allow him to return to sport in a fairly sustained manner, which may involve physical preparation on the football fields.
The Team, specifying that the player's case was monitored extremely precisely by a team of French, Belgian and Dutch cardiologists, emphasizes that this would be a first in France: allowing a player to return after such a serious alert and the installation of a defibrillator. French legislation does not yet allow an athlete to play in such conditions but hope remains for Nabil Bentaleb ready to fight until the end to find what made his identity, that is to say be a great football player.
A nuance is nevertheless necessary: the same Team newspaper cites the case of Noah Fadiga who, like his father, was the victim of vagal discomfort. His father, who lived for many years as a top athlete with a defibrillator, was banned from playing in France…like his son, twenty years later. Noah Fadiga having left Brest, it is possible that Nabil Bentaleb will be forced to leave France (certain destinations allowing playing in similar conditions, such as England or Belgium) to be definitively authorized to play again.
DZfoot
