By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda mts president Nebojsa Covic revealed details regarding the tragic death of Michael Ojo, who collapsed from a heart attack during individual practice on August 7th.
As Covic explained in his interview with Serbian TV station “Sportklub”, Crvena Zvezda received authorization by Ojo’s family and agent to investigate and help establish the cause of death as well as what led to it.
According to Covic, Ojo was coronavirus negative on the three tests he did while being under contract with Zvezda. Still, the club found out that he tested positive afterward, at the end of June, early July when he was suffering from cough and fever.
“Disinformation appeared and we got involved. We started to check… In the meantime, a call arrived from the Emergency Center to see if anyone could come and perform the identification. The director and the doctor left and unfortunately identified our former player. Afterward, his family called. We have a moral obligation to do everything the family asked of us. To do some checks. Only then we did start to check what happened and came to the information that in early July, Ojo started to feel chest pains, coughing, fever…” Covic said about the tragic day of Ojo’s death.
To be exact, on July 6th, Ojo was diagnosed with pneumonia (lung infection) in the right lung, while a week later, a start of pneumonia in the left lung was noticed.
All of these tests were done at a private clinic, which gave him twice the recommendations to go into the COVID infective referral clinic and at Belgrade. Ojo decided not to. He was given complete treatment, antibiotics as well as various vitamins and minerals to fight through his condition.
His blood analysis was still bad on July 29th, while his exam on August 5th showed that pneumonia had slowed down. He was also developing antibodies that suggest he recovered from coronavirus and was getting his immunity back up.
On the same day, Ojo got permission and a suggestion for light/moderate physical activity, which would mean that as soon as he would feel the least tired, he should stop.
The big and controversial problem arises since, according to Covic and Zvezda’s findings, Ojo told his doctor that he trained even before he was cleared and that he was getting tired really fast. He practiced on July 31st, August 1st, and 4th, before dying during the next training session, three days later.
“After all that, the August 7th happened and I see no reason why anything should be mystifying. The family and the Nigerian embassy are looking for the complete truth of what happened,” Covic noted while adding that the local prosecutor’s office initiated a procedure, while the Nigeran embassy is also insisting on discovering the whole truth about the circumstances of Ojo’s death.
Crvena Zvezda president noted that doctors advise against intense physical activity for three, four, even up to six weeks after pneumonia, even in the case of athletes. He also stated that coronavirus and pneumonia, which followed could have impacted the heart condition of the deceased player.
The investigation continues, and the autopsy will also include a COVID test.