ZURICH/STOCKHOLM: FIFA president Sepp. Blatter has written to the Swedish football federation to express his regret at the death of 29-year-old player Victor Brannstrom.

The Swede, who formerly represented Helsingborg in the top flight, had just scored for Pitea against Umedalen in their Division Two North match when he collapsed on the pitch. Brannstrom was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead following a suspected cardiac arrest.

Blatter described Brannstrom as “a young man with his whole life before him” to SVFF President Karl-Erik Nilsson, and promised that FIFA is doing its utmost to avoid the repetition of such tragic incidents:

“FIFA is continuing to make every effort to investigate the cause of tragic incidents such as the case of Victor and prevent them from occurring in the future, and at the same time is giving the highest priority to improving emergency medicine of the field of play.”