Cameroon international, Patrick Ekeng pronounced dead after collapsing on the pitch

Dynamo Bucharest midfielder Patrick Ekeng collapsed on the pitch during his team's Romanian Liga 1 match at home against Viitorul on Friday, and was pronounced dead at the hospital approximately 90 minutes later. The cause of death has, of yet, not been released.

Ekeng entered the match as a substitute roughly seven minutes earlier, and was standing on his own with no players around him as he monitored play. He started to move, then kind of rocked backward a bit before he fell onto his back. Players nearby were immediately concerned and quickly called for medical personnel. Close-up shots of Ekeng lying on the pitch showed him appearing to have issues breathing, and the medics who attended to him quickly called for a cart to transport him to the ambulance in the stadium and then to the local hospital.

Doctors in the hospital worked to save Ekeng's life, but he did not respond to treatment. Patrick Ekeng was 26 years old, and was due to return to his wife in France in a few days' time with the Romanian league season ending. Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, he had been capped seven times at senior level for his home nation.

This is, sadly, the second time this has happened to a Dinamo Bucharest player. In October of 2000, club captain Catalin Hildan collapsed and died during a club friendly.

Emanuel Roşu, who covers Romanian football for the Guardian and BBC, has more -- and some of the details only make the entire situation much, much worse.

Dinamo's club doctor says that CPR was performed en route to the hospital, a trip that took approximately one minute. Either way, it sounds as though the on-site medical staff did not have anything like the equipment they would have needed to give Ekeng a better chance at survival.

12:35 AM