FACT CHECK: Did Christian Eriksen, The Danish Soccer Player Who Collapsed Mid-Game, Recently Receive His COVID-19 Vaccine?

An image shared on Facebook claims Christian Eriksen, a Danish soccer player who collapsed during a match over the weekend, recently received a COVID-19 vaccine.

Verdict: False

Eriksen was not recently vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the director of Inter Milan and a spokesperson for Denmark’s men’s national soccer team.

Fact Check:

Eriksen, a 29-year-old midfielder, collapsed on the field during Saturday’s Euro 2020 game against Finland, The New York Times reported. He was resuscitated on the field and later hospitalized, where he is in stable condition and undergoing tests, according to ESPN. Denmark’s team doctor said in a news conference Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch.

Viral social media posts have tried to link his collapse to a COVID-19 vaccine. One screen grab of a tweet from Twitter user @lumidek reads, “Christian Eriksen, the Danish player who suddenly collapsed on the pitch, plays for Inter Milan. The chief medic and cardiologist of that Italian team confirmed on an Italian radio station that Eriksen has received the Pfizer vaccine on May 31st.” A reply to the tweet in the screen grab attempts to cite the Italian radio station Radio Sportiva as the source.

Pfizer is one of several pharmaceutical companies that has successfully developed a COVID-19 vaccine. (RELATED: Viral Image Falsely Claims Hank Aaron Was ‘Killed’ By A COVID-19 Vaccine)

The screen grab’s claim doesn’t appear to hold up under scrutiny. Radio Sportiva on June 13 denied reporting that Eriksen recently received a COVID-19 vaccine.

Le informazioni riportate nel tweet citato sono false. Non abbiamo mai riportato alcun parere dello staff medico dell’Inter riguardo le condizioni di Christian Eriksen. Si prega l’autore del tweet di rimuovere il contenuto, altrimenti saremo costretti a prendere provvedimenti. RS https://t.co/annEH7akQb

— Radio Sportiva (@RadioSportiva) June 13, 2021

“The information reported in the tweet mentioned is false,” reads a translation of Radio Sportiva’s tweet, in part. “We have never reported any opinion from the Inter medical staff regarding Christian Eriksen’s condition.”

Giuseppe Marotta, the director of Inter Milan, the Italian professional soccer team on which Eriksen also plays, told Rai Sports that Eriksen “didn’t have COVID and wasn’t vaccinated” for it, according to Reuters.

Jakob Høyer, a spokesperson for Denmark’s men’s national team, also refuted the claim that Eriksen had recently received a COVID-19 vaccination in an email to Check Your Fact. When asked about the viral tweet, he said, “No, not true.”

The Twitter user who made the claim, @lumidek, later deleted his tweet, saying, “I deleted the massively viewed tweet because Radio Sportiva’s Twitter account posted a denial of that information on their radio and my source could have been untrue, I am just unsure enough.”

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