Fleck did not collapse due to virus vaccination

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

The Scotland midfielder, 30, was rushed to hospital after requiring medical treatment and being carried off on a stretcher during the Championship game against Reading. Fleck’s collapse was the latest in a string of several 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 connection without 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 collapse over recent months including Christian Eriksen, Sergio Aguero and Wigan striker Charlie Wyke, with many being attributed to underlying or unknown heart conditions.

But speaking after Fleck’s collapse, radio pundit and exEngland winger Trevor Sinclair hinted there could be a link to the Covid jab, while Matt Le Tissier, a firm advocate of choice over the vaccine, demanded in a Tweet for Fifpro, football’s world governing body, to look into it.

Many scientists have angrily rejected the high-profile opposition to the vaccines, especially as the country braces 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 of Nottingham University.

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

Last week, as well as the incidents involving Wyke and Fleck, Sheriff Tiraspol’s Adama Traore was taken to hospital after playing in a Champions League tie.

‘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.