Mattia Agnese, a 17-year-old Italian defender, has won the FIFA Fair Play Award after saving the life of one of his opponents last January.
Agnese, 17, is playing for Ospedaletti, a non-professional Italian club based in the Region of Liguria.
This past January he saved the life of one of his opponents following an on-field collusion.
“I saw he was not breathing and I immediately put him in a safe position and pulled out his tongue to prevent him from choking,” Agnese said.
Lega Serie D Cosimo Sibilia praised the young defender.
Mattia Agnese, a 17-year-old Italian defender, has won the FIFA Fair Play Award after saving the life of one of his opponents last January.
Agnese, 17, is playing for Ospedaletti, a non-professional Italian club based in the Region of Liguria.
This past January he saved the life of one of his opponents following an on-field collusion.
“I saw he was not breathing and I immediately put him in a safe position and pulled out his tongue to prevent him from choking,” Agnese said.
Lega Serie D Cosimo Sibilia praised the young defender.
"I am really happy for Agnese, his words to comment on the award received moved me. It is a recognition that must fill the entire movement of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti with pride as it confirms the importance of basic football, capable of transmitting the most authentic values of sport. That’s exactly what Mattia did.”
The Italian was given the award ‘remotely’ by Milan legend Ruud Gullit who told him: “You are my hero, our hero.”
Agnese learned life-saving manoeuvres from watching first aid videos on YouTube.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, he has become a close friend of the guy who he saved his life to.
“FIFA Fair Play Award winner Mattia Agnese is quite literally a life-saver. Still just 17, this aspiring footballer was honoured for an act of quick-thinking bravery in administering critical first aid to an opponent who lost consciousness following an on-field collision,” FIFA wrote in an official statement.
“Agnese, who learned his life-saving manoeuvres from watching first aid videos on YouTube, was recognised for his selfless actions with a place in the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Now he has collected an even more prestigious prize.
“Perhaps best of all, he has also become friends with the opponent he saved, having made contact and struck up a bond after the latter made a full recovery.”
Pic credit: Fifa The Best
Congratulations Mattia Agnese on winning the FIFA Fair Play Award. While playing for Ospedaletti, the teenager admirably saved the life of an opponent who had lost consciousness following a clash of heads #TheBest #FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/iGAzEIfpDq
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 17, 2020