SOCCER PLAYER SUFFERS BRAIN DAMAGE

Ajax’s Abdelhak Nouri was diagnosed with serious and permanent brain damage, the Dutch pro team announced Thursday, days after the 20-year-old midfielder collapsed in a game. Nouri was thought to have suffered cardiac arrhythmia during Saturday’s game against Werder Bremen, and he was placed in a medically induced coma. The BBC reported that he showed signs of improvement before brain scans found the damage. “The diagnosis was made that a lot of (Nouri’s) brain is not functioning. All this probably occurred due to a lack of oxygen supply,” Ajax said in a statement.