Police probe Astori death

Italian authorities have confirmed that they have opened manslaughter proceedings into the death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.

The 31-year-old Italy international centre-back died on the night of Saturday into Sunday, on the eve of his team's Serie A trip to Udinese, which was subsequently postponed.

Police are now set to investigate the death, the cause of which is currently unknown, it has been confirmed.

“We have opened criminal proceedings over the hypothesis of manslaughter,” Antonio de Nicolo, Udine chief prosecutor, told Radio Rai.

“For now, it's been brought against unknown persons. We've arranged an autopsy, which will be performed soon.”

Under Italian law, the only way an autopsy could take place on Astori in order to discover the cause of death was to open such a case.