UEFA President Michel Platini Taken To Hospital After Fainting - Report
By Stephen Darwin
Jul 9, 2010 8:51:00 PM

UEFA president Michel Platini has been taken to hospital after fainting in a Johannesburg restaurant just two days before the 2010 World Cup final.

Platini was dining with guests at the Pigalle restaurant in Johannesburg on Friday evening before he reportedly collapsed and was rushed to hospital.

The Daily Mirror have claimed that Platini may have suffered a heart attack as he reportedly keeled over at the table and had to be wheeled away on a stretcher.

A UEFA source has, however, denied these claims and insisted that the former Juventus star is "conscious and well."

"Michel has had flu for a couple of days and he fainted in a restaurant and was taken to hospital," the UEFA source told the Press Association.

"He is having some tests but is conscious and well."

William Gaillard, an advisor to UEFA, reiterated that Platini is "fine" and that he has been informed that the cause of the UEFA chief fainting could be connected to him having not eaten due to his flu symptoms.

"I talked to his assistant who was with him and it seems just fainting which is linked to him not taking any food today as he's had a cold, fever," Gaillard told Sky Sports News.

"All the precautionary exams were negative. He's conscious and fine. [The hospital] may carry out more tests. When a well known person faints they usually do that. [I've] been told not to worry, [it's] nothing serious.

"When people faint people imagine the worst. That's a normal human reaction. A few minutes ago the person who was with him told me not to worry, it's nothing serious, these things happen. People have to carry out more tests as this is the procedure but he will be fine.

"[I have] no idea if he'll be kept in hospital [overnight]. I had the same problem myself a couple of years ago and they kept me the whole night."

As for the possible reason for fainting, Gaillard was quick to downplay reports of a heart attack.

"A lot of people have a cold there [in South Africa], fever. It's winter. That could explain it," he concluded.

The latest line to come from Sky Sports News is that the manager of the restaurant where Platini was dining, seemingly with ex-Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh, has reportedly spoken to the UEFA supremo on the phone and that he's suggested to him that the problem is connected with blood pressure.


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