Pianese of Italy youngster, Kingsley Paul Akpan Udoh (aka King) has been confirmed to have tsted positive to the rapidly spreading deadly Coronavirus disease in the country where he was born and plies his football trade, megasportsarena.com gathered.
The 22-year-old Nigerian-born attacker, who is on loan from Serie A champions, Juventus, was diagnosed with the highly-contagious respiratory ailment on Thursday with the Coronavirus.
King Udoh, who has previously played on loan at Virtus Lanciano, Fernana, Fano and Viareggio, before joining Pianese in 2019, has since been quarantined to stop him from infecting other players or fans, following his reported illness that began during training ahead of his team’s match this weeknd against at Juventus’ under–23 team.
The dreadlocks-wearing youngster, who started his career with AC Reggiana, before joining Juventus in 2011, and immediately loaned back to the Regio Emilo-based side for a year, secured a loan move to lower division, Serie B side Virtus Lanciano in 2016, with an option to buy at the end of the season.
After failing to impress, he returned to Juve, but was then loaned to Lega Pro side, Pontedera later in the same year, after which he was signed up by Pianese on July 14, 2019.
Sadly, he now becomes the first professional footballer in Italy to be confirmed with coronavirus infection, which is gradually spreading across Europe and Africa, after emanating in from China, then spread to Hong Kong and South Korea.
Italy has been mostly hit in Europe by the deadly virus with countries now placing travel ban on the country, where Udoh was diagnosed of the disease on February 27, and he has been quarantined, making him the second person overall confirmed with the ailment in The Land of The Azurri.
A statement from the Tuscany region disclosed: “Two new suspected positive cases of Coronavirus in Tuscany. Both are awaiting confirmation by the Higher Institute of Health.
“One is a 22-year-old man in the Siena province, a Pianese player, who last Saturday had symptoms in a hotel in Alessandria, where he was training with the team ahead of Sunday’s game.
“He did not play the game that morning as he had a high fever. The team returned to Piancastagnaio, while he went home. Wednesday morning, he was tested in his home and the results came back as positive in the evening.
“Since early this morning, he is at a hospital in Siena, in isolation. He is in good, healthy condition. Another player of the team felt the same symptoms, which the club is tracking.”
