Mo Salah’s old team-mate has on-pitch heart attack and stops breathing ‘for over an hour’

Egypt’s forward Ahmed Refaat has suffered a heart attack (Image: Getty Images)

Ahmed Refaat, a former teammate of Mohamed Salah, had a heart attack on the field, stopping his breathing for more than an hour.

The 30-year-old Refaart, who has nine senior caps for Egypt, played alongside the star player from Liverpool. The forward was competing for Modern Future FC against Ittihad of Alexandria in the Egyptian Premier League.

Refaart entered the game as a second-half substitute. Two minutes before the game ended, he passed out and was taken to the hospital, which resulted in the game being suspended.

In a statement, Modern Future FC said: “Ahmed Refaat’s heart stopped for over an hour, despite all attempts at resuscitation by the medical staff at Zamzam Hospital near the stadium, before his heart rate gradually improved.”

But his health is still unstable, so his transfer is not possible. The player will continue receiving treatment and going through the required testing until his health condition stabilizes.

“The club is temporarily monitoring the situation from the hospital, and updates will be sent out to all members right away.

“We would like to call on the media to respect the player’s personal life as well as his health and ask the Egyptian football fans to pray for Ahmed Refaat to be safe and sound as soon as possible.”

Refaart has made nine appearances for the senior team during his entire playing career in his native nation. Refaart has scored twice for the Egyptions during that time.

The first strike came in a 1-0 victory over Sudan and the second came in a 2-1 victory over Jordan during the 2021 Arab Cup.