CNN
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Nottingham Forest striker, fatty awoniyi, reportedly placed in induced coma after a “urgent” surgery for a serious abdominal injury that was damaged during a Premier League match over the weekend.
Awoniyi collided with the post during a 2-2 draw for Forest with Leicester City on Sunday, but remained on the final 10 minutes of the game despite being clearly hampered after the incident.
In a statement Tuesday, Forest said the Nigerian striker was “well recuperating” after surgery for “serious abdominal injury.”
British media, including the BBC and Sky Sports, reported that Awoniyi was placed in a hospital-guided coma as part of the recovery process.
When CNN reached, Nottingham Forest pointed out Tuesday’s statement and declined to comment further.
Awoniyi was injured as he tried to complete connection with Anthony Elanga’s cross.
The 27-year-old stretched to get in contact with the ball in an attempt to score, but in his efforts he collided with the frame of the goal. It was later revealed that Elanga was offside, but sideline officials didn’t raise the flag until Awoniyi hit the post.
Awoniyi then received long treatment on the pitch, but was deemed OK to continue. After Awoniyi signaled he deserved to continue playing, Forest made the final permitted alternative.
According to a statement Tuesday by Forest, the decision to allow Awoniyi to stay on the pitch after an evaluation from medical staff sparked a heated debate over the field between club owner Evangelos Marinakis and manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Espirito Santo said he was asking about the decision from the club’s medical staff to allow Marinakis to continue Awoniyi after the match, not related to the team’s performance.
In a harsh statement on Tuesday, Forest rejected comments that Marinakis had faced off Espirito Santo with “fake news.”
“The truth behind the problem is there was no conflict with Nuno or anyone else, and there was no conflict on the pitch or inside the stadium,” Forest said. “There was only a common frustration among all of us that the medical team should never have allowed them to continue playing.
“We urge former coaches, players and other public figures in the game to resist the urge to make judgments online and to forge the news, especially when they don’t have the perfect facts and context.”
Forest called Marinakis and Espirito Santo’s on-field arguments “a baseless, uninformed rage for the purpose of personal social media traction.”
Since joining Forest from Germany’s Union Berlin in 2022, Awoniyi has scored 17 goals in the club’s 73 Premier League appearances.