Footballer crashes car through wall of sports hall and rushed to hospital

31 March 2023 , 11:13

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OH Leuven have issued a statement after the incident involving their player Sofian Kiyine (Image: Plumb Images/Getty Images)

Morocco under-23 international Sofian Kiyine was rushed to hospital after a car accident which saw his vehicle crash through the wall of a sports hall.

No other individuals were involved in the incident, which is reported to have happened when the footballer appeared to lose control of his car at a roundabout. Kiyine, who was born in Belgium but has represented Morocco at age group level, plays his club football with OH Leuven in the country of his birth.

Kiyine's condition has been described as not life-threatening. His club have issued an update on the midfielder's recovery and wished him well.

A video purporting to show the moment of the crash has been shared on social media. According to Belgian outlet HLN, a group of children had been using the sports hall earlier, but were out of danger in the changing rooms at the moment Kiyine's car smashed through the wall.

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Photos on Twitter claim to show the wreckage of the vehicle, with debris on the floor of the hall. "The madness there's a car that landed on the ground of my basketball club," one social media user wrote while sharing a photo, adding that they were due to have training in the same sports hall the same day.

The individual sharing the images did not appear to realise footballer Kiyine was involved in the incident. However, in replies to their post, others posted reports from a variety of news outlets.

"Sofian Kiyine was taken to the emergency department of the nearest hospital where further examinations are taking place," OH Leuven's statement reads. "He is not in a life-threatening condition. Fortunately, no other vehicles or persons were involved in the accident.

"The club is waiting for more clarity about the exact circumstances of how the accident came about before responding further. We wish Sofian a speedy recovery."

Kiyine, who began his career in Standard Liege's youth set-up, has spent the majority of his playing career in Italy. He made his professional debut with Chievo during the 2016-17 season, eventually earning a move to Lazio in 2019, but never made a senior appearance for the club from Rome, racking up more than 70 apprearances across spells on loan with Salernitana and Venezia while on Lazio's books.

The midfielder, who qualifies for Morocco, Belgium and Italy at international level, played 25 games in Serie A last season while on loan at Venezia before moving permanently to Leuven after the Italian side were relegated. He has played 20 league games this season, scoring in wins against Zulte-Waregem and Seraing, with Leuven sitting 11th of 18 clubs in Belgium's top tier at the time of writing.

Tom Victor