Soccer player injured after sneezing: head coach

A soccer player in England has been ruled out with an injury after a “pretty hefty sneeze,” according to his head coach.

Victor Adeboyejo – who plays for Bolton Wanderers in League One, the third tier of English soccer – hurt his back due to the sneeze on Monday.

“Victor has been suffering with a nasty back injury and a sneeze set it off yesterday, believe it or not,” Bolton manager Ian Evatt told The Bolton News on Tuesday.

“We have had it scanned and should have the results very soon. Everyone remembers the challenge at Charlton, he was okay at the time. But then he had a pretty hefty sneeze,” he added.

“Victor is a powerful boy and even his sneezes are powerful!”

As a result, the Nigerian striker missed Tuesday’s game against Barrow, and it remains to be seen when he will make his return.

“He felt a bit of a crack in between his ribs and we are hopeful it is just a cartilage or muscular issue, but until we’ve had a good look at the scan, we won’t know,” Evatt said.

“I have to start having a long look at myself when players start getting injured sneezing. That is just the way things seem to be going at the moment, but we have to deal with it.”

The freak injury has come at a bad time for Bolton, which is already missing a number of other players and is struggling in the division following its loss to Oxford United in the play-off final last season.

Adeboyejo becomes the latest name on a list of the sport’s most bizarre injuries. In 2009, Glasgow Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot required hospital treatment after an egg he had poached in his microwave exploded and scalded his face.

In 1995, meanwhile, Croatian striker Milan Rapaić missed the start of the preseason having accidentally poked himself in the eye with his boarding pass while waiting for a flight.

More recently, Tunisian Rami Kaib was sidelined for five weeks in 2021 after he broke his jaw eating a carrot.