Fleck collapse was not down to vaccine

Anti-vaxxer claims are ridiculed by scientists

JOHN FLECK’S on-pitch collapse playing for Sheffield United last week was not connected with the Covid vaccine, as scientists continue to denounce anti-vaxxers for suggesting such a link.

Fleck, 30, was rushed to hospital after requiring medical treatment and being carried off on a stretcher during a Championship game against Reading.

The Scotland striker’s collapse was the latest in a string of similar incidents in football, leading to conspiracy theories about players responding badly to Covid vaccines.

But those suggestions have been branded ‘irresponsible’ by experts who insist it is impossible to make any such connection withChampions out any evidence.

And Sheffield United were quick to point out that Fleck had a separate medical issue which led to his seizure. A source close to the player said: ‘John Fleck’s issue was not vaccination related.’

There have been more than a dozen players who have collapsed in recent months, including Christian Eriksen, Sergio Aguero and Wigan striker Charlie Wyke, with many being attributed to underlying or unknown heart conditions.

However, speaking after Fleck’s collapse, the radio pundit and former England winger Trevor Sinclair hinted that there could be a link to the Covid jab, while Matt Le Tissier, a firm advocate of patient choice over the vaccine, also demanded in a tweet that Fifpro, the representative body for the world’s professional footballers, should look into it.

Many scientists have angrily rejected the high-profile opposition to the vaccines, especially as the country is bracing itself for a possible wave of more cases and deaths from Covid after the discovery of the Omicron variant. ‘It is totally irresponsible to make these unsubstantiated comments,’ said Professor Keith Neal from Nottingham University.

Professor Guido Pieles, a sports cardiologist at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, added: ‘At present I would say that this is still a coincidence. I don’t think we can say that this (type of collapse) is suddenly increasing.’

Wigan star Wyke collapsed in training last week but the Latics were quick to refute suggestions that it had anything to do with Covid.

In a statement the club said: ‘We can confirm that Charlie has not received a Covid-19 vaccination and Charlie’s collapse was not related to any Covid-19 vaccination.’

Eriksen, who collapsed playing for Denmark against Finland in the European Championship finals in the summer, had not been vaccinated before the incident. And it was revealed that Aguero, hospitalised after a collapse playing for Barcelona earlier this month, had an underlying heart condition.

Last week, as well as the incidents involving Wyke and Fleck, Sheriff’s Adama Traore was taken to hospital after going down clutching his chest in a Champions League tie against Real Madrid.

‘It may be tempting to blame Covid vaccines but pundits do have a public responsibility not to fuel vaccine hesitancy without any real evidence,’ added Professor Robert Dingwall.

Studies on heart inflammation after Covid vaccinations support that view. In two studies of more than seven million people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, it identified the risk of developing the heart condition known as myocarditis in about one in 50,000.

In contrast, in the earliest days of the Covid pandemic, it was clear that the coronavirus itself was causing an abnormal number of heart issues.