Professor Roberto Di Bartolomeo, one of the most esteemed Italian specialists in cardiac surgery, gave an interview to ‘Corriere dello Sport’ to talk about the Bove case. The midfielder will implant a subcutaneous defibrillator in the next few hours, at the latest on Monday, and this will not allow him to return to the pitch in Italy. But abroad yes: “We Italians are the most rigid of all. We don’t joke about health. Coming to an agreement at an international level, and in less serious cases letting the patients decide, wouldn’t be wrong. Let’s also say that for the doctor to dump everything on the patients is not the best… we want to take care of people and make sure they live, but the fact that you can play in one place and not in another is a little surprising.”
And in yet another passage: “Are athletes with defibrillators not suitable for competitive sports? In Italy they are not. Do you remember Kanu? He had an aneurysm of the ascending aorta and was operated on, his aortic valve was saved. The dilated part was replaced and not he had a mechanical prosthesis, yet he still had to go to England.”
Bove should be discharged from the Careggi hospital in Florence in the middle of next week. Subsequently, he will have to observe a few weeks of rest and a subsequent period of re-athleticisation. In the meantime, at this point, he will also have to discuss the termination of the contract with Roma and then evaluate opportunities from abroad.