Getty UKItalian football club Fiorentina have announced that they will honour a contract which Davide Astori was due to sign this week, and will pay the money to his partner and daughter.
The club captain passed away in his sleep on Sunday, aged just 31, according to reports.
Andrea Della Valle, president of Fiorentina football club, revealed that Astori was planning on signing a contract on Monday which would commit him to the club for four more years.
GettyAnd after a meeting with executives, it was decided that the club would honour that deal by offering the wages to his wife Francesca and his two-year-old daughter, according to The Sun.
Fiorentina chief Della Valle said:
Believe me, it is hard to be here. This is a tragedy for us.
I don’t even know how to express this pain. We are all under shock. He was with us for four years and just think that he was due to extend his contract on Monday.
He was due to do it earlier, but due to the snow, we had put it back and agreed we would do it on Monday.
It was his greatest joy to be able to end his career here, because this is where it would have ended.
GettySupporters have been paying tribute to Astori in their droves, as the mayor of Florence announced there would be a day of mourning on the day of his funeral.
Mayor Dario Nardella said:
The news of the premature death of Davide Astori has shocked the world and distressed the whole of Florence, the city he had chosen to pursue his profession in and for his family life.
The role of captain of the city’s club, the deep bond he knew how to create not only with the fans but with an entire community thanks also to the undoubted human qualities and civic values he showed he believed in, the exemplary conduct of professionalism attached to the most authentic of values of the Viola and Italy national team shirt and the world of sport in general and, last but not least, the young age in which he has been taken by a tragic, unexpected death form the basis of a collective feeling of grief on the part of the entire city of Florence.
The mayor announces a day of mourning on the day of the funeral of Davide Astori, an exemplary man more than a footballer.
An official investigation into the death of Fiorentina Captain Davide Astori has been confirmed, leading to a potential manslaughter case.
According to a prosector they suspect the 31-year-old skipper, who had just become a father two weeks ago, died from a cardiac arrest.
The Italian international’s body was discovered in his room at La di Moret hotel in Udine by a member of Fiorentina’s staff on the morning he was set to lead the team out against Udinese in the Serie A.
GettyThe Sun reported Udine prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo as telling Sky Sports:
We have opened criminal proceedings over the hypothesis of manslaughter.
For now, it’s been brought against unknown persons. We’ve arranged an autopsy, which will be performed soon.
In accordance with Italian law, the only means of permitting an autopsy to investigate Astori’s untimely death was to open such a case.
Why death is disgustingly cruel? Because a 31 y-o healthy man, a 2 w-o father at peak of his football career, passes away in his sleep. RIP #davideastori :(
— Debarati Majumder (@debarati_m) March 4, 2018
Our thoughts go out to Astori’s family and friends at this hard time.
Rest in peace.
