Italian football match postponed after Fiorentina director Joe Barone rushed to hospital

A football match in Italy's top league had to be postponed after a club boss was rushed to hospital.

Fiorentina's general manager Joe Barone was taken to hospital by helicopter just hours before the club were due to play at Atalanta on Sunday.

The 57-year-old reportedly became ill at the team hotel in nearby Bergamo. Italian media reports that the situation is serious and it is said that some of the players were present when Barone fell ill.

The match in the Serie A league - Italy's equivalent of the Premier League - had been scheduled for 5pm.

The club requested it to be postponed and the match will be played at a later date that has not yet been decided.

It comes less that two weeks after the six-year anniversary of the death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori, who was found dead in his hotel room after a cardiac arrest before a match at Udinese.

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