Ajax midfielder stable after collapsing in pre-season friendly

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Ajax midfielder Abdelhak Nouri is in a stable condition after collapsing during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen in Austria on Saturday.

The 20-year-old required medical attention on the pitch before being airlifted to hospital where his club has since stated he is “stable, has a heartbeat and is asleep”.

The game was abandoned, with Ajax later revealing that Nouri had heart arrhythmias, a condition whereby the organ beats either too fast or too slow.

“Appie is asleep to treat him as effectively as possible. Our thoughts are with him and his family,” Ajax tweeted, referring to the player by his nickname.

Nouri made 15 appearances for the Dutch club last season, including three in the Europa League, though he did not play in the final, a defeat to Manchester United.

He is a Dutch youth international having been born in Amsterdam to parents of Moroccan descent.

The incident comes a little over a month after Ivory Coast international Cheick Tiote collapsed in training with Chinese club Beijing Enterprises and died on June 5.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)