Gregory Mertens, the 24-year-old Belgian defender from Sporting Lokeren, died on Thursday, days after collapsing on the pitch during a match with the club's reserve team against Racing Genk.
Guardian Sport shared news that the club had confirmed Mertens died after several days of fighting for his life:
Sporting Lokeren have confirmed that defender Gregory Mertens has died, three days after collapsing during a match …
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) April 30, 2015
Sporting Lokeren later confirmed the news via their Twitter account (in Dutch), offering their sympathies to the family and friends of the player:
Met droefheid melden wij u het verlies van Gregory Mertens.