Spanish Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati's Euro 2025 in doubt as she is admitted to hospital with 'scary' viral meningitis days before tournament kicks off
Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí has been hospitalised with viral meningitis just days before Euro 2025 begins.
The two-time Ballon d'Or winner could miss a significant chunk of the tournament, which kicks off in Switzerland on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old didn't train on Thursday because of a fever and was ruled out of a pre-tournament friendly against Japan.
A day later she was admitted to a hospital in Madrid, where she posted a photo of her watching Spain's 3-1 victory from a hospital bed with a cannula in her arm, alongside a flexing arm emoji.
Spain boss Montse Tomé confirmed the star has viral meningitis, adding: 'We can't talk about deadlines' for a return.
'Talking about meningitis can be scary but it is controlled,' she said.
'Aitana, for us, is a very important player, we will wait for her yes as long as we can.
'The information I have told you is what I have and I am not going to explain more, if I said something more I would be wrong.'
The Spanish Football Federation said Bonmatí underwent medical tests after first suffering from a fever.
But the fever remained and more extensive tests were carried out which confirmed she had meningitis, reports in Spain claim.
Viral meningitis typically tends to get better on its own within a week to 10 days, according to the NHS.
Bonmati claimed her second consecutive Ballon d'Or trophy in October.
The midfielder won the league title but missed out on a fourth Champions League to Arsenal
The Barcelona star has scored 30 goals in 78 matches for Spain and was a vital cog in the side which won the 2023 World Cup and last year's Nations League.
She won a sixth league title and fifth Supacopa de Espana this season but was unable to claim a fourth Champions League win after Arsenal beat Barcelona 1-0 in the final last month.
Spain face Portugal in their Euros opener in Group B in Bern on Thursday.
They then take on Belgium on 7 July and Italy four days later.
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