Diogo Costa on Casillas heart attack: “Then came the ‘ow, ow, ow'” | OneFootball

Diogo Costa was heard this Wednesday at the Palace of Justice in Porto, as part of the civil action brought by Iker Casillas against FC Porto and the insurer Fidelidade. The former goalkeeper is seeking compensation of 3.7 million euros following the myocardial infarction he suffered on May 1, 2019, during a training session at Olival.

“I no longer remember exactly what year it was, but I remember the episode perfectly. You don’t forget examples like these. It was a more tactical training session, with the goalkeepers more involved in possession and with little intervention, it was more geared toward the team. I remember seeing Iker sitting down, stretching, and suddenly ‘ow, ow, ow,’ confusion broke out, it was a shock. It was the first time I had witnessed something like that. It was a moment of great distress with the doctor around him, it was around 11:30 a.m., more or less, late morning,” he said, when questioned by the Spaniard’s lawyer, while giving context about the type of work done by the goalkeepers, specifically in a later stage of the season: “There is always a light gym preparation before training, everyone has their chronic issues, so it is just some mobility work. It is half an hour before training and lasts about 20 minutes. That day it was a more tactical session, with few dives, nothing very demanding, more footwork and possession with the team. We did coordination and activation work, which we always do. The basis is the warm-up, with care taken to avoid injuries, it lasts 15 minutes. As it was a more tactical exercise, it was not on the whole pitch, narrower, more playing with the feet; on these days the goalkeepers are not subjected to very great effort. There was no sequence of shots or physical demand, it was more about simulating situations that can happen in a game. Each coach has his own way of seeing things, but in May the concern is more about reaction, about being recovered; the physical demands are greater at the start of the season. This is the general working method of the coaches. After the heart attack I do not remember seeing Iker at Olival, I only remember seeing him being attended to and going to the hospital.”

The intensity level of the training session in which Casillas suffered the heart attack may influence the assessment of the claim made by the former player. For that reason, the testimony of Diogo Costa is particularly relevant, especially in comparison with the description the Spaniard is said to have given to some of the doctors who treated him.

During the morning, Luís Filipe Seca, a cardiologist at CUF Porto, explained the context that Casillas is said to have conveyed to him: “I have issued similar formal opinions on other occasions. After physical exertion of maximum intensity, as happened on May 1, 2019, based on the information that was given to me and confirmed by the player himself when I had a clinical consultation with him. In my opinion, I try to describe that, in his own words [Casillas], the incident happened during a high-intensity phase of training. That specific phase was described as involving a high level of exertion. As far as I am concerned, Iker should not return to playing, I would never recommend it, I would never sign off that his return to competition was viable. A man who has had a heart attack is not exempt from having another one; in fact, the risk remains permanent for the rest of his life, so we must do everything to avoid it.”

Salary processing

Hugo Esteves, FC Porto’s head of human resources for 16 years, also gave a statement to clarify the sequence of payments made by the club to Casillas after the cardiac episode.

“I am responsible for payroll processing for all FC Porto personnel. Iker Casillas did not work after May 1, 2019, but FC Porto processed and paid all of Iker’s salaries until the end of June 2020, with holiday and Christmas bonuses paid in twelfths. The amount of sickness compensation shown on the payslip was so that the net amount would be identical to the agreed amount. In April and May there was an agreement made with the athletes, because of Covid-19, under which the net amount for all athletes was reduced, which was later reimbursed and, in Casillas’s case, in November 2020, which was when we regularized our cash flow capacity, the missing part was paid. We stopped paying Iker at the end of June 2020, on instructions from the board, which informed us of the termination of the employment contract, which we passed on to Social Security. No reason was given to us, nor any other explanation, only that the contract was ending at the end of June.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.