Will we see him again on a pitch this season? Nothing is less sure. Absent since the final of the World Championship lost on January 29 against Denmark (34-29), Nikola Karabatic is the victim of phlebitis. PSG announces this February 15: “Following the discovery of phlebitis in the right leg, the French international will not be able to resume training for a minimum of three months. “.
Phlebitis is a serious pathology. Venous thrombosis, another name for phlebitis, occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein. Untreated, it can lead to a pulmonary embolism. “Cared for by the medical staff of Paris Saint-Germain, Nikola Karabatic will have to follow a treatment based on anticoagulants. This treatment is not compatible with a high-level contact sport, the Parisian number 44 will be absent for at least three months, ”indicates, again, the Parisian club.
During the World Cup in Poland and Sweden, Nikola Karabatic had already been poisoned by pain in his foot, in a toe, which had prevented him from finishing the tournament with all his means. If all goes well, he could possibly return at the time of the season’s money time. The French championship ends on June 6, while the Final Four of the Champions League, where PSG are in first place in their group, will take place on June 17 and 18.
By then, the triple Olympic champion will have celebrated his 39th birthday. He is no longer at the age where you have to take risks. He extended his contract for an additional year with PSG 15 days ago and intends to push his incredible career until 2024. This is not the first time that the player has encountered such a problem. He had already experienced this at the end of 2020, when he injured his right knee (anterior cruciate ligament rupture) which forced him to forfeit the World Cup in Egypt (France finished 4th).
“I doubted when I had a thrombosis with pulmonary embolism, complications two weeks after the operation. I didn’t even think too much about handball anymore. I spent ten days in the hospital lying on the bed. I was just thinking about getting out of there and going back to normal,” he said at the time. He had been absent for almost 8 months, just returning to seek a third Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.