Iker Casillas work accident legal case

Legal proceedings are ongoing in a Porto court to determine if a 2019 myocardial infarction suffered by former FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas qualifies as a work-related accident. The case involves FC Porto and the insurer Fidelidade.

Testimony regarding the incident has been conflicting. Cardiologist Luís Seca testified that intense training was the most likely trigger for the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, noting the event occurred following maximum intensity effort. However, goalkeeper Diogo Costa testified that the training session was moderate, rating its intensity at a “three out of ten” and describing it as primarily tactical with minimal physical demand.

The Porto Labor Court has since requested further medical clarifications, deeming previous technical-scientific conclusions insufficient to establish whether intense physical effort caused the plaque rupture. In response, Casillas’s defense has contested the involvement of the Legal Medical Council (CML), arguing for scientific continuity from the original rapporteur and questioning the impartiality of the CML president due to alleged conflicts of interest regarding academic positions on legal causality.