ROME: An autopsy into the death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori will be carried out on Tuesday while his funeral will be held in Florence two days later, the Italian football club announced.
Italy was in shock following the sudden death on Sunday of the 31-year-old defender who played for his country 14 times.
“Fiorentina and Davide’s family inform you that the autopsy will be performed tomorrow... The funeral will take place on Thursday in the Santa Croce basilica,” the Serie A club said Monday on its Twitter account.
A judicial inquiry had been launched following the death of the player, who was found dead in his hotel room in Udine, where his team was due to play Udinese on Sunday.
“We have opened a manslaughter investigation, against X for the moment,” Antonio de Nicolo, a magistrate in the northeastern city of Udine, told Rai radio on Monday, adding that such a procedure was “mandatory.”
De Nicolo was quoted Sunday as saying Astori died of “natural causes” after a “cardiac circulatory collapse” — a type of heart attack.
All seven matches in Italy’s top flight on Sunday were postponed following the news of Astori’s death.
Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, said the city would observe a day of mourning for the player’s funeral.
Former national team coach Antonio Conte and World Cup winner Gianluigi Buffon paid emotional tributes to Astori, describing their Italian compatriot as “fantastic” and “a great guy.”
Chelsea manager Conte, who coached the defender when his was in charge of Italy, said the player’s death was a “tragedy.”
“This is a tragedy and it really hurts me. It’s very difficult at this moment to find the right words for the family,” Conte told Sky Sports on Sunday ahead of his side’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City.
Veteran Buffon, the Juventus captain, called Astori “a great man.”
Buffon, who wrote in a post on Instagram accompanied by a photo of the two players exchanging pennants before a game between their clubs, said he did not usually make a habit of expressing his feelings about others.
“I want to make an exception to my rule because you have a young wife and others close to you who are suffering, but mostly because your little girl deserves to know that her dad was a good man... a great man,” Buffon said of Astori, who leaves behind a wife and a two-year-old daughter.
Astori began his career at AC Milan, also playing for Cagliari and Roma before joining Fiorentina in 2015.
He made his international debut under coach Cesare Prandelli in March 2011 as a first-half substitute in a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Kiev before getting sent off with 17 minutes remaining.
Astori scored his only international goal in the 2013 Confederations Cup third-place play-off against Uruguay, giving Italy a first-half lead in a match which finished 2-2. Italy went on to win on penalties.
Italian prosecutors open investigation into death of Davide Astori
Italian prosecutors open investigation into death of Davide Astori
Arsenal thrash Villa 4-1 while Chelsea and Man Utd both held
- Arsenal end Aston Villa’s 11-game winning streak
- Wolves earn third point of season against Man United
LONDON: Arsenal closed out 2025 in emphatic fashion, smashing third-placed Aston Villa 4-1 on Tuesday to surge five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who collected their third point of the season, while Bournemouth grabbed a point at stuttering Chelsea, forcing a 2-2 draw after a frantic first-half display.
Man United are sixth, level on 30 points with fifth-placed Chelsea.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal slammed the door shut on charging Villa, ending their club-record winning run of 11 games.
Goals by Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Zubimendi early in the second half gave Arsenal control of a game that had looked fraught with danger.
Gabriel bundled in the opener from a corner in the 48th minute before Martin Odegaard slid a pass through for Zubimendi to score four minutes later. Arsenal secured the points when Leandro Trossard fired home from the edge of the area before Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to add the fourth.
Ollie Watkins grabbed a consolation goal for Villa in stoppage time.
“I think it was amazing,” Jesus told Sky Sports. “It’s always hard to play against them... The mentality of the team is really, really growing and each game is growing even more and I think we are winning today because of the mentality.”
Arsenal top the standings with 45 points, while second-placed Manchester City can close the gap when they play at Sunderland on Thursday.
Villa are six points adrift of Arsenal.
It took six minutes at Stamford Bridge for Bournemouth to shock Chelsea when David Brooks grabbed the opener. Cole Palmer equalized from the spot in the 15th minute and Fernandez put Chelsea ahead with a bullet shot eight minutes later.
Justin Kluivert brought Bournemouth back level in the 27th, to grab a point, adding to the London side’s unenviable record of one win in seven league games. Chelsea sit fifth, while Bournemouth are 10 spots below them.
Man Utd struggle
Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee made the most of a rare start by giving the depleted hosts the lead with a deflected shot from the edge of the box in the 27th minute.
But Wolves managed to level just before the break thanks to a header from Ladislav Krejci.
Patrick Dorgu briefly celebrated what he thought was a 90th-minute winner, but it was chalked off for offside.
“We struggled in all the game,” United boss Ruben Amorim said. “We had a lack of creation... the fluidity offensively wasn’t there.
“We didn’t play well. When you don’t play well with the ball, you struggle without it.”
Wolves have three points from 19 games, 15 points from the safety zone.
Newcastle United’s Joelinton scored after 65 seconds and Yoane Wissa doubled their lead five minutes later in a 3-1 thrashing of 19th-placed Burnley, who are winless in their last 10 games.
Josh Laurent pulled one back in the 23rd minute, but Bruno Guimaraes sealed Newcastle’s rare away win with a goal in stoppage time.
Everton climbed to eighth in the standings with a 2-0 win over their former manager Sean Dyche and Nottingham Forest thanks to goals from James Garner and Thierno Barry.
West Ham United drew 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion in a game that featured three penalties in the first half.
Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, from the penalty spot, scored before the break for West Ham, while Brighton’s Danny Welbeck struck from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute but fired another off the crossbar.
Joel Veltman scored for Brighton in the 61st minute to secure the draw.
There are four more games on New Year’s Day, including fourth-placed Liverpool hosting Leeds United at Anfield.
