A professional footballer has suffered a “serious back injury” caused by a “violent sneeze”.
Bolton Wanderers striker Victor Adeboyejo was due to play in Tuesday’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy group match at Barrow.
But he had to be withdrawn from the squad due to back and chest problems.
Coach Ian Evatt, who is already without several first-team players due to injuries and international break, said the pain appeared to have been caused by a “fairly forceful sneeze”.
“Believe it or not, Victor has a pretty bad back injury and the sneeze triggered it,” he told the Bolton News.
Adeboyejo, 26, has since been under investigation.
“He felt a slight impact between his ribs so hopefully it’s just a cartilage or muscle problem but we won’t know until we have a closer look at the scan,” Evatt said.
It happened after a foul during the game against Charlton, the coach added.
“He was fine at the time but then he sneezed quite violently – Victor is a strong lad and he sneezes quite violently.”
“When players start hurting themselves when they sneeze, I have to take a hard look at myself.”
Bolton have four points from their first four games of the season and are 18th in League One.
They won their game against Barrow 3-2.