“Some dreams unfortunately come to an end.” It is with these heavy words that Zambian midfielder Enock Mwepu announced on Monday morning the forced end of his football career at just 24 years old. The reason is medical: the Brighton & Hove Albion player, current 7th in the English Premier League, was diagnosed with a “hereditary” heart disease.
A physical evolution discovered on the return from the international break last September. “Enock fell ill on a flight to Zambia,” the club said in a statement posted on its official website. After a hospital stay in Mali, he returned to Brighton to undergo further cardiac examinations and continued care. These tests concluded that his illness is due to an inherited heart condition, which manifests later in life and was not previously evident during regular heart exams. Unfortunately, this disease can be exacerbated by the practice of a sport. Enock was therefore told that the only option, for his own safety, was to stop playing football. »
Too great a risk to continue playing competitively
“This condition, which may worsen over time, would put Enock at an extremely high risk of suffering a life-threatening cardiac event, should he continue to play competitive football,” the club said.
Trained in his native Zambia then passed through Austria, and in particular the talent pool that is RB Salzburg, Mwepu had joined England and Brighton in the summer of 2021. Regular with the Brighton first team, he had played, since his arrival at the club, 27 matches in all competitions (3 goals, 7 assists). He also had 24 selections with the “Chipolopolos”, the national team of Zambia.
“This is not the end of my adventure with football, assured Mwepu in a press release published on his social networks on Monday. I want to stay involved in one way or another. “For its part, the Brighton club assured, through the voice of its president Tony Bloom, “as a club, we will give him all the love, help and support possible so that he recovers completely, then accompany him in the choice of the next stages of his life. »