Davide Astori

To commemorate one year since his death, all Serie A matches were stopped at the 13th minute mark on 2 and 3 March 2019.

In April 2019 it was reported that Astori's contract would be renewed for life with all the money going to his wife and child, but it was later revealed to be a hoax.

In May 2019, during the 2018 ceremony for new members being inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame, a Fair Play Award in memory of Astori was also awarded for the first time ever; the recipient of the award was Igor Trocchia.

On 4 March 2018, Astori was found dead in his hotel room prior to a league match. His autopsy revealed cardiac arrest as his cause of death.

At the beginning of 2017–18 season, Astori was appointed as the team captain following the departure of Gonzalo Rodríguez. On 25 February 2018, Astori made his last appearance for the club, playing the full match in a 1–0 home win over Chievo; six minutes into the match, Astori made a run forward, joining the attack, and passed the ball to Cristiano Biraghi, who scored the only goal with a long-range shot.

On 4 March 2018, Astori died in his sleep while staying in a hotel in Udine prior to Fiorentina's match against Udinese, proven to be caused by cardiac arrest determined from an autopsy conducted two days later. A club statement said "Fiorentina are profoundly shaken and forced to announce that their captain Davide Astori has died." His former Cagliari teammate and coach Diego López and former Fiorentina teammate Carlos Sánchez collapsed to the ground after hearing the news of his death, however they both recovered shortly after. All Serie A and Serie B matches scheduled for 4 March were postponed. His death had caused shock across the footballing world, and many coaches and players paid their respects. UEFA later announced on Twitter that a minute's silence was to be observed before every European match scheduled for that week. Cagliari and Fiorentina both retired the number 13 jersey worn by Astori in his honour (Astori wore this number as it was the number that his idol, Alessandro Nesta, had also worn throughout his career). He was buried at San Pellegrino Terme cemetery on 8 March 2018. Fiorentina's next home game against Benevento, on 11 March, was paused for 60 seconds at the 13 minute mark in his honour, while children from both teams entered wearing Astori's jersey to pay tribute to him; Fiorentina won the match 1–0, with the only goal coming from Vitor Hugo, who celebrated after scoring by saluting a T-shirt bearing Astori's image.

Later that month, Fiorentina announced that they would rename their training ground "Centro Sportivo Davide Astori" after Astori. Also later that month, in Italy's friendly with Argentina on 23 March, as well as Italy's friendly against England on 27 March, the Italy squad shirts were embossed with, under the crest, "Davide sempre con noi", Italian for "Davide always with us", with the number 13 below. Although Serie A introduced a new ruling ahead of the 2018–19 Serie A season, which introduced a standardised armband for all club captains, Fiorentina's new captain, Germán Pezzella, was granted an exemption by the league, and was allowed to wear a personalised captain's armband in tribute to Astori. Later that year, Astori was inducted into the Fiorentina Hall of Fame.

Astori made 30 total appearances during his time at the Stadio Olimpico, scoring once to decide the match at Udinese on 6 January 2015.

On 4 August 2015, Astori signed on loan for Fiorentina until the end of the season with an obligation to buy. He made his Fiorentina debut on 23 August in the 2–0 victory against Milan, coming on as a substitute for Facundo Roncaglia in the 59th minute.

On 24 July 2014, Cagliari announced Astori's move to Roma on a season-long loan deal. The transfer was settled in €2 million and Roma held the option to make it permanent at the end of the season for another €5 million. Astori renewed his contract with Cagliari a day before the Roma transfer.

Astori was a member of the 23-man Italy squad that took part at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup under Prandelli; Italy reached the semi-finals, only to suffer a penalty shoot-out defeat to Spain following a 0–0 draw after extra time, on 27 June 2013. On 30 June 2013, Astori scored the opener against Uruguay in the third place match after knocking in the rebound from Alessandro Diamanti's free kick, as Italy won 3–2 on penalties to win the bronze-medal, following a 2–2 draw after extra time; this was his only international goal, and he became the first Cagliari player to score for Italy since Luigi Riva had done so 40 years earlier, in a 2–0 victory over Switzerland on 20 October 1973. In total, Astori made 14 senior appearances for Italy between 2011 and 2017.

On 9 July 2012, Astori revealed he turned down a move to Russian side Spartak Moscow worth a €15 million (£11.9 million) fee after agreement between two clubs. Astori explained turning down a move to Spartak Moscow because he wanted to stay at Cagliari and achieve his goals with the club.

Astori made his international debut for Italy in 2011 and represented his country on 14 occasions, scoring one goal, which came in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup third place play off, where he won a bronze medal.

On 22 June 2011, the club bought the residual 50% registration rights from Milan for another €3.5 million. (pre-agreed €1 million tagged in 2008 and additional €2.5 million) After making 8 appearances at the start of the season, Astori suffered a fractured foot in a match against Napoli on 23 October 2011 following an intervention by Ezequiel Lavezzi and have to come off on the 21 minutes in a 0–0 draw. His injury resulted in his being out for 3 months.

In June 2009, the club renewed their ownership with A.C. Milan to keep Astori at Cagliari for another year. Astori replaced Diego López and made 34 appearances and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Fiorentina on 31 January 2010. On 28 February 2010, Astori scored his second goal in a 2–1 loss against Chievo. On 3 April 2010, Astori scored an own goal against A.C. Milan to allow Milan scored the third goal in the match which Cagliari lost 3–2. During his second season at Cagliari, rumours spread when A.C. Milan was keen to sign Astori but nothing happened. Despite the rumours, Astori was keen to rejoin A.C. Milan in the summer.

The club renewed their ownership with A.C. Milan to keep Astori at Cagliari for another year in June 2010.

Astori received his first call-up for the senior team under newly appointed coach Cesare Prandelli who named him in the squad for a friendly against Ivory Coast, to be played on 10 August 2010; however, he was left on the bench as an unused substitute. He made his full debut for Italy on 29 March 2011, in a 2–0 friendly win against Ukraine in Kiev. He came on as a 17th-minute substitute for the injured Giorgio Chiellini but was sent off with 15 minutes remaining in the second half after receiving two yellow cards.

After playing youth football for Pontisola and Milan, Astori started his senior career at Serie C clubs Pizzighettone and Cremonese, playing one season for each while on loan from Milan. In 2008, Cagliari signed him in a co-ownership deal, before signing him fully from Milan, for whom he never made a first team appearance, in 2011. He later spent loan spells at Roma and Fiorentina, before signing with the latter club permanently in 2016; he was subsequently named the team's captain in 2017.

At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Astori was signed by Serie A club Cagliari in a co-ownership deal with Milan, for €1 million. He made his official debut in the top-flight during an away game against Siena on 14 September 2008, coming on as a substitute in the second half.

Astori played 4 games for Italy's under-18 team, beginning in 2004. He did not receive any further call-up at higher levels of youth international football.

Born and raised in the province of Bergamo, Astori started playing football with local team Pontisola before joining Milan in 2001. He spent five years in the club's youth system, after which time he was sent on two consecutive loan spells to Serie C1 clubs Pizzighettone and Cremonese for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, respectively.

Davide Astori (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdaːvide aˈstɔːri, - aˈstoːri] ; 7 January 1987 – 4 March 2018) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a central defender.