Medical emergency halts restart of Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiacos

A fan was attended in the stands after suffering a cardiac arrest

(Getty Images)

The start of the second half in the Europa Conference League semi-final between Aston Villa and Olympiacos was delayed on Thursday night after one supporter suffered a cardiac arrest.

Broadcaster TNT Sports confirmed during the half-time interval that kick-off for the second 45 minutes was to be delayed a short time, as medical teams attended the individual, believed to be an Aston Villa fan.

The additional stoppage was only a brief one, with the incident seemingly starting just before or shortly into the half-time break, with a stadium announcement therefore able to quickly ask other supporters to clear an area in the lower tier of the Villa Park stand to allow emergency services access.

An ambulance was waiting nearby, the broadcaster confirmed, and the game was able to restart a few minutes later than planned.

Villa had scored shortly before half-time through Ollie Watkins, having earlier conceded two goals to put their attempts to reach the final in jeopardy.

After the restart Moussa Diaby scored another for the hosts to equalise, only for Ayoub El Kaabi to immediately score his hat-trick goal from the penalty spot. Santiago Hezze then netted a deflected long-range strike to restore Olympiacos’ two-goal lead once more. Douglas Luiz missed a late penalty for Villa in the eventual 4-2 defeat. The second leg takes place in Greece on 9 May.

No further updates have been given by Villa or Uefa on the condition of the supporter.