There are palpable fears among officials of Greek club, Olympiakos Piraeus that the career of their Nigerian attacker, Michael Olaitan Oyeneye, who collapsed mid-way into a league game against city rivals, Panathinaikos on March 2nd, may be over.
Olaitan, 21, collapsed on the pitch unchallenged and momentarily lost consciousness as Panathinaikos ended his club’s 26-match unbeaten run with a 3-0 win in an Athens derby.
Though, the Nigerian regained consciousness and later the club’s doctor, Christos Theos diagnosed him as suffering from a viral infection (myocarditis), the player is yet to kick a ball a month after the incident and this has heightened fears in the club over his career.
A source in Greece told us that Olaitan is yet to resume even training as he is still undergoing rehabilitation; with the club doctors requiring him to report for thorough medical check-ups periodically since the incident.
The source said the Nigerian carries on with his normal life except playing football as the doctors test all hypothesis to make sure that he is 100% certified free of the virus before being allowed to return to training.
“The doctors said that they can’t reveal anything yet as he is still undergoing examinations and has therefore been placed under watch for several months before final decision.
“It is a huge blow to Olympiakos and of course everybody is worried, but they remained optimistic too that he would be back; they just want to be certain before allowing him to play again,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Olympiakos were crowned Greek Champions for the 41st time on April 13th after defeating Panathinaikos 2 – 0 in a reverse fixture with five games left to play.
Though the Nigerian did not play in this last game, he nonetheless contributed greatly to the victory by scoring eight goals in his 16 appearances for the Thrylos before the March 2nd incident.