An 81-year-old man died after the electric wheelchair he was in collided with a car being driven by Inter Milan goalkeeper Josep Martinez.
The incident took place in Fenegro, a small town in the province of Como in northern Italy, with the police saying that the wheelchair may have come in the path of the car.
“The car driven by Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez hit a man who was in an electric wheelchair travelling on a cycle path alongside a road in the province of Como,” police told Reuters. “Martinez stopped his car in order to help the man, who died before the arrival of the ambulance.”
The 27-year-old Martinez is the second-choice custodian for the Nerazzurri since joining last year from Genoa, and has made 12 appearances for the club. He has also played for Las Palmas and RB Leipzig.
According to reports, Martinez was driving to Inter’s training centre at Appiano Gentile on Tuesday morning when the tragedy struck. Some accounts said that the deceased, named Paolo Saibene, had a sudden physical illness, which resulted in his wheelchair veering into the path of the car. Preliminary investigations suggest that the elderly man may have lost consciousness or suffered a heart attack, BeIN Sports reported. Italian authorities are gathering evidence and eyewitness accounts to clarify the full circumstances of the incident. Police examined the tyre marks on the road to reconstruct the braking distance and initial speed, and it was established that the footballer was driving within the speed limit of 70 kilometres per hour.
Como’s police command informed ESPN that Martínéz was not harmed but was in a state of shock. He had to undergo the mandatory blood tests at a nearby hospital to check alcohol or drug content, which returned negative.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, several of Martinez’s teammates, who took the same route to training, saw him sitting on the side of the road, holding his head in his hands. He testified at a police station, accompanied by a club lawyer, and the investigators also seized his phone to check if he was using it when the accident occurred.
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Inter’s training session took place but the press conference before the Serie A game against Fiorentina was cancelled. Martinez could return home only at 6 pm, and was accompanied throughout the day by several members of the club, including the team manager, security manager and the team doctor. There was also a psychologist when he got home. The player then switched off his social media accounts and is unlikely to return to training for several days, only after getting the go-ahead from investigators.
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