All we could do when Christian Eriksen collapsed was report the facts

The start of a major tournament is always a source of great optimism. Only one team will win Euro 2020 later this summer but, as one of the great events of the sporting calendar kicked off this weekend, hope sprang eternal for 24 countries all over Europe. This time, maybe, it would be their year.

But on only the competition’s second day, just how unimportant the winners and losers of a game are were brought into the sharpest of focus. The images of Christian Eriksen lying prone on the pitch during Denmark’s opening game with Finland on Saturday, mistakenly broadcast in grizzly detail all over the world, will live long in the memory of everyone who witnessed them.

Despite how it often makes us feel, football is not a game of life and death. The perspective that is so often lacking at the top end of sport came crashing into the consciousness as doctors attended to the Denmark midfielder and battled to save his life.

It’s not what you train for as a sports journalist but in such a moment the only priority is to report what you know, not what you can or cannot speculate.

We treated a story of such immense gravity with care and taste while also responding to what our readers wanted in terms of what was happening in the moment but also what would be happening next with the help of our health correspondent and newsdesk reporters.

There was no need to reproduce those fateful pictures across our pages, nor to focus on the reaction of Eriksen’s partner, so visibly distraught at what was unfolding in front of her. Instead we reported facts: that he was taken to hospital and subsequently stabilised before relaying that he was awake and responsive when leaving the stadium.

Someone will win the European Championships and lift the famous trophy aloft in July and we will report on it in detail. But this weekend, football was also reminded of what is really important.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor