A Romanian court handed a one-and-a-half year suspended jail sentence to an emergency doctor for negligence before the death of Dinamo Bucharest midfielder Patrick Ekeng.
Ekeng was 26 when he collapsed on the field after suffering heart attack during Dinamo Bucharest’s match against Viitorul in May 2016.
The Cameroonian international was pronounced dead two hours later.
The following month, Elena Duta, the medical specialist in the ambulance which took the midfielder to hospital, was charged with unjustified inaction with prosecutors saying she made no attempt to resuscitate the player.
In a statement released by the court on Thursday, Duta was also ordered to pay 200,000 euros ($227,000) in damages while sentencing her to 60 days of community service,
According to Reuters, Duta was not immediately available for comment following the ruling.
Ekeng’s death caused the world soccer players’ union FIFPro raised concerns about the level of first-aid treatment for footballers in Romania.
Eighteen-times Romanian champions Dinamo later retired the number 14 shirt as a mark of respect to Ekeng, who also played for clubs in Cameroon, France, Switzerland and Spain.
