Players break out in tears
Tragedy in Italy: One -year -old son of football professional dead
Updated on July 29, 2025 – 07:42 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A player of the Italian second division club SSC Bari experiences a difficult stroke of fate. The club reacts immediately.
A tragedy overshadows the season preparation of the Italian second division club SSC Bari: The son of offensive player Matthias Verreth is dead. The club confirmed this on Sunday.
“We find no words to deliver a message that recently shaked us all recently,” said the message. “President Luigi de Laurentiis, the coaching staff, the entire team, the club management and all employees of the ‘Biancorossi’ are in thoughts with Matthias Verreth and his family in one of the worst moments that parents and people can experience: the sudden death of a child.”
According to the Italian newspaper “Gazzetta Dello Sport”, the accident in Belgium happened. The family of the 27-year-old footballer lives there. Veth’s son was hospitalized a few days ago due to a viral disease. The boy’s condition called Elliot Charles then deteriorated rapidly before he died shortly afterwards. Reth’s son was just 14 months old.
Reth apparently suffered the news at lunch with the rest of the team. It has broken out into tears. President Luigi de Laurentiis brought him to the airport by car so that Verreth was able to fly home as quickly as possible.
The club broke off its training camp in Roccaraso. “The team today returns to Bari out of respect for this tragedy and grief,” the statement said. Please make the fans, the player, his wife, oldest daughter and all relatives mentally and emotionally.
Verreth only moved to Bari about two weeks ago. He had previously played for Brescia Calcio in Italy and was active in the Netherlands, among others, for Willem II and PSV Eindhoven.