Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba has announced his decision to retire from professional soccer after his on-pitch collapse in March, his club’s website reported last month.
On 17 March the 24-year-old suffered a heart attack during an FA Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur and was clinically dead for 78 minutes.
Muamba described his recovery after a month in hospital as “more than a miracle” and Bolton boss Owen Coyle did not rule out the possibility of him returning to play “at the highest level”.
However, the Zaire-born midfielder has acknowledged that he has been forced to give up the professional game.
“Since suffering my heart attack and being discharged from the hospital, I have remained utterly positive in the belief I could one day resume my playing career and play for Bolton Wanderers once again,” he said.
But after a medical consultation in Belgium, Muamba did not receive good news from the cardiologist.
“The news I received was obviously not what I had hoped it would be and it means I am now announcing my retirement from professional football,” he said. “Football has been my life since I was a teenage boy and it has given me so many opportunities.
“Above all else, I love the game and count myself very lucky to have been able to play at the highest level.”
Born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1988, Muamba moved to the UK at the age of 11 to join his father, who was living in London since 1991 as an asylum seeker due to his political views.
Despite arriving in Britain unable to speak English, he went on to achieve 10 GCSEs and A-levels in English, French and Mathematics just a few years later,
He has retired after a successful career playing for Arsenal, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanders.
