Ligue 2 player in brain death after drowning in Rhône river

A young Ligue 2 player is in a state of brain death after drowning in the Rhône river on Monday in the municipality of Caluire-et-Cuire, near Lyon. The Lyon prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the causes of death.

The victim had gone swimming with two friends when all three men were swept away by the current. His two companions were successfully resuscitated by emergency services, but the footballer could not be revived in time.

This tragedy occurs amid a persistent heat wave across France. Since the start of the weekend, around twenty drownings have been recorded in the country, according to Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari. “It is not insignificant to go swimming in unsupervised areas during heat waves like this,” she said on France Inter, calling for “respect for safety rules.”

“We also understand that people need to cool off and want to access water, but you really must respect supervised areas. We see, for example, young people in canals, and we must be very careful about where we go into the water,” she insisted.

The minister also highlighted a “maintenance problem with swimming pools, particularly in rural areas,” deploring the closure of certain swimming lesson facilities due to lack of funds. “Pools are aging and there are municipalities that are no longer able to maintain these facilities,” she regretted, specifying that she had asked the National Sports Agency to prioritize pools in its investments.