Muamba Collapse halts Spurs, Bolton Match

Play in the FA Cup quarter-final between Tottenham and Bolton was abandoned in London Saturday after Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the field.

The 23-year-old Kinshasa-born player appeared to collapse with no players near him towards the end of the first half at White Hart Lane.

The BBC reports that he was breathless by the time he was stretchered out of the field, with the scores 1-1.

“Medics spent 10 minutes trying to resuscitate the 23-year-old on the field before the players were taken off by referee Howard Webb.

BBC Radio 5 live senior football reporter Ian Dennis says the English midfielder is fighting for his life.

According to the BBC, ”Medical staff gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and tried to revive him with a defibrillator. In total six medics were treating the player”.

“Both sets of supporters chanted Muamba’s name as he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher. ESPN reported that he was not breathing as he was taken down the tunnel.

Referee Howard Webb called the players off the field before an announcement shortly afterwards that the game had been abandoned.

Muamba was being taken to hospital while paramedics battled to revive him, ESPN television reported.
Muamba was born in Kinshasha, Congo on 6 April, 1988. His family fled Congo to escape political persecution in the 1990s and settled in east London.

Despite arriving England at the age of 11, without being able to speak English, Muamba went to school, offered A-levels and distinguished himself as a footballer, with talents.

In 2004, he joined Arsenal’s Youth Academy and went on to play for Arsenal. Arsenal loaned him to Birmingham City, before he moved to Bolton in 2008. He also played for England’s under 21 team.