Use money from fines to save lives

WHAT a relief that Christian Eriksen is in a stable condition after that horrifying episode in Copenhagen on Saturday.

It’s great news and a huge well done to everyone involved in saving him.

What happened to the Dane must now serve as another reminder of the importance of having the right medical equipment at every football match.

Not just professional level but from park pitches and Power Leagues upwards the length and breadth of the land.

Or at as many as possible, anyway. The point was very well made on Twitter that monies from those European Super League fines ought to go towards ensuring defibrillators are available throughout grassroots football.

And I’d extend that to say both player and club fines from grassroots level, along with a percentage of sponsorship money throughout the game – fines such as the one levied on Niklas Bendtner for wearing silly pants – should go into the pot as well.

I’d like to see more coherent thinking on it all now and, as well as the right equipment. I hope the FA will find a way to train one or two people from every team in the country — whether it’s players, managers or parents — in first aid so they know how to act when something like this happens.