Manslaughter investigation opened into Davide Astori’s death, no suggestion of foul play

The footballing world was rocked on Sunday by the news that Fiorentina captain Davide Astori had passed away during the night.

According to the club's official Twitter page, the 31-year-old - an Italian international - died following a 'sudden illness' on the eve of his club's game against Udinese. On Monday, Italian authorities confirmed that they have opened manslaughter proceedings into the Astori's death. "We have opened criminal proceedings over the hypothesis of manslaughter," Antonio de Nicolo, chief prosecutor in Udine, told Radio Rai (via Goal). "For now, it’s been brought against unknown persons. We’ve arranged an autopsy, which will be performed soon." It should be pointed out that there is no suggestion of foul play at this stage. Under Italian law, an autopsy to determine cause of death can only take place by opening such a case. Therefore, this is normal procedure, with Asotri's death presently being treated as "the fault of no-one. Many of Astori's former teammates were quick to pay tribute to him following the news of his death, amongst them Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo - who both played alongside him for the Italian national team.