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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Sport
Asharq Al-Awsat

Heart Issue Forces Brighton Player Enock Mwepu to Retire

Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion - London Stadium, London, Britain - August 21, 2022 Brighton & Hove Albion's Enock Mwepu in action with West Ham United's Declan Rice and Aaron Cresswell. (Reuters)

Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu has retired from soccer at the age of 24 because of a hereditary heart condition, the Premier League club said Monday.

Mwepu became ill last month on a flight to join the Zambia national team squad in Mali and was treated in a hospital there. He had further medical tests in England.

“The condition, which can worsen over time, would put Enock at an extremely high risk of suffering a potentially fatal cardiac event, if he were to continue playing competitive football,” Brighton said in a statement.

The Premier League club said the health problem was not seen on previous cardiac screening tests, which top-level soccer players routinely undergo each season.

“We are all absolutely devastated for Enock,” Brighton chairman Tony Bloom said. “As a club we will give him all the love, help and support we possibly can to make a full recovery, and then as he decides on the next steps in his life.”

Mwepu made his debut for Zambia as a teenager while he was playing for Salzburg. He won four Austrian league titles with Salzburg and played in the Champions League on a team with Erling Haaland. He joined Brighton last year.

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