Ajax midfielder Nouri’s brain damage ‘serious and permanent’

AMSTERDAM, July 13

Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Abdelhak Nouri’s brain damage is “serious and permanent” and he has no chance of a full recovery, the club said on Thursday.

The 20-year-old collapsed during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen in Austria on Sunday when his heart stopped.

He was revived on the pitch and airlifted to hospital, but Ajax have confirmed that although his heart is working normally, he has lost function in parts of his brain. “The chances of recovery of these crucial brain functions is nil,” the club said in a statement. “This was probably due to a lack of oxygen supply to his brain.” 

Nouri has been cleared to leave hospital in Innsbruck and will be transferred to Amsterdam in the coming days, Ajax said. “This is the worst possible news. We feel enormously for his parents, siblings and other relatives,” Ajax director Edwin van der Sar said.  — Reuters