Christian Eriksen has left Inter Milan by mutual consent after it was confirmed that his heart condition would not allow him to compete in Serie A, but the Danish midfielder could find himself back in England, where the same blanket ban does not apply.
Inter announced Eriksen’s departure in a statement on Friday: “FC Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached to terminate Christian Eriksen’s contract by mutual consent. The club and the entire Nerazzurri family wish Christian all the very best for his future.
“Although Inter and Christian are now parting ways, the bond shall never be broken. The good times, the goals, the victories, those Scudetto celebrations with fans outside San Siro – all this will remain forever in Nerazzurri history.”
It is unclear whether Eriksen wishes to resume his playing career after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark against Finland in a Euro 2020 match in June, although he has been training at his former youth club OB in Odense.
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An OB spokesman informed i that Eriksen is living next to the club’s training centre and asked the club whether he could have access to their training pitch, which they approved.
If Eriksen decides to return to football, he could be allowed to play in England, where he spent seven productive years with Tottenham. The Football Association told i that a decision over whether Eriksen would be allowed to resume his career in England would be made on an “individual basis”; the Italian FA’s rules forbid players from playing with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device.
Eriksen, 29, was resuscitated with a defibrillator on the pitch before being taken to hospital for further treatment, after collapsing during Denmark’s Euro 2020 opener. After further examinations, Eriksen was fitted with an ICD device, which is designed to correct abnormal changes in a heartbeat by sending low-voltage electrical pulses or larger shocks to the heart to restore its natural rhythm.
Francesco Braconaro, a member of the Italian Football Federation’s technical scientific committee, said in August that Eriksen would be unable to play in Italy so long as he had an ICD fitted.
In October, Inter Milan released a statement that read: “Although the current conditions of the player don’t meet the requirements of achieving sporting fitness in Italy, the same could instead be achieved in other countries where the player could resume competitive activity.”
However, the FA has confirmed that the requirements in Italy are not the same as in the UK. An FA spokesman told i: “In Italy, there is a longstanding nationwide cardiac screening policy which runs across all sports participation and does not allow participation in a case of increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest during exercise. This has not been adopted in other countries, including the UK.”
In England, a sports cardiologist from the FA’s Cardiac Consensus Panel would assess a player found to have an abnormal cardiac screen or to have developed a cardiac-related problem and a decision over whether they would be allowed to resume their career would be based on “individual circumstances” and the “risk surrounding the player”.
The FA also confirmed that it oversees “around 1,500 cardiac screens in professional football per year”.
When asked by i whether the former Tottenham playmaker would theoretically be able to play in the Premier League again, the FA asserted that an individual assessment would have to be made, but did not rule out passing Eriksen fit to compete again in England.
Players are allowed to play with an ICD in other countries, such as the Netherlands, where Eriksen’s former Ajax team-mate Daley Blind was fitted with an ICD in December 2019 and has played regularly for the Dutch club in domestic and European competitions since, as well as for the Dutch national team at Euro 2020.
Eriksen scored eight goals in 60 appearances for Inter, helping the side win the Serie A title last season under Antonio Conte, who has since moved to the Dane’s former club Tottenham.
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