He was not the first, and he will not be the last.

The sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori last Sunday shocked the football world, and not only.

It is hard to comprehend how a 31-year-old, in the prime of his health and always monitored for the least medical symptom that requires attention, ends up dying overnight from heart complications. Astori had undertaken a thorough medical test only four days before the tragedy, and nothing had emerged to raise any alarm bells about his health.

This adds to the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. The autopsy has revealed nothing untoward, but other tests will be carried out to try to find out more about the cause of his demise. Italian media report that these tests need 60 days to be completed.

It was a good move by the Italian football association to cancel all football matches that were due to be played on Sunday. Although this created a fixtures nightmare at the height of the season, there was a need to show respect to a dedicated professional, who was also a member of the Italy national team. The death of a player takes precedence over other considerations.

But, apart from expressing solidarity, first of all with his family and also with his club and colleagues, questions must be raised and, possibly, answered.

Football must learn from tragedies such as this. We know that top footballers, at least in the top leagues, undergo rigorous and frequent health checks, and many clubs always take extreme precautions when it comes to fitness.

There have been many instances when players were found to be carrying some medical issue that prevented them from playing sport at a professional level. When this happened, they either underwent treatment before they were deemed fit to play again or, if the condition could not be corrected, were ordered to stop competing at the highest levels.

The death of Astori – and of others before him, some of whom died on the field of play – however raises the possibility that not enough is being done to prevent such tragedies from happening. And football, like any other sport (there have been similar sad stories in other disciplines too), must look within to see whether matters need to be improved.

These are some questions that the sport world must look into and analyse in a bid to at least be seen to be doing something: Are there too many games being played? Are players being given enough time to recover between one game and another? Are business and money interests being given more importance than the players’ health? Are the medical tests being carried out on players rigorous enough to identify health issues that could be detrimental to the life of a professional sportsman? Apart from physical examinations, are stress-related matters being given enough weight in determining whether players are fit to compete?

These and other questions need to be answered in order to avoid tragedies from taking place.