Stepan Chernov had been a Baltika player for less than 24 hours.
The 21-year-old signed for the fourth-division futsal side LFK Baltika Yekaterinburg on Friday and started his debut the following evening against Akadem in Russia’s amateur Liga 5×5 competition. He got through the first half, which ran for 25 minutes and ended goalless, without any sign of trouble.
In the opening minutes of the second half, his legs gave way. He was heading toward the substitutes’ bench when he fell. An emergency medical team ran onto the pitch and attempted resuscitation for about 40 minutes. He could not be saved.
The club described the moment in a tribute published the following day:
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“Stepan was preparing to make his way to the substitutes’ bench, but his life ended before he could be substituted.”
Teammates and a former colleague paid their respects to Brit Brief, describing Chernov as cheerful, honest and devoted to football. His sister Darya told local reporters that her brother had died from cardiac arrest and heart failure, and that he had never raised any health complaints before the match.
Orphaned as a child, raised by his sister
Chernov was raised by his grandmother and his older sister Darya after being orphaned as a child, and had played football since he was around five. Before joining Baltika he had turned out for Ural-Kalininets and Knockout, two regional sides in the Sverdlovsk area. A fundraiser has been set up to support his family.
FIFA’s 2025 youth screening recommendations
Sudden cardiac death is the leading medical cause of death in football, and Chernov’s death highlights the gap between the screening standards set for elite football and the resources available at amateur level.
In April 2025, FIFA published a consensus statement on youth cardiac screening recommending that assessments begin at the age of 12 and be repeated every two to four years. The core package combines personal and family medical history, a focused physical examination and a resting 12-lead electrocardiogram.
The same panel set an operational benchmark for pitchside response, writing that automated external defibrillators “should be positioned to enable shock delivery within 3 min of collapse.” Those recommendations are framed as best practice rather than a universal mandate, and the authors acknowledged that resources are unevenly distributed.
Funeral in Verkhnyaya Pyshma on Wednesday
Chernov’s funeral is being held in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, a town immediately north of Yekaterinburg, on Wednesday 11 November.
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