Dutch striker Jean-Paul Boetius of Hertha Berlin has been diagnosed with testicular cancer, the club announced on Thursday. The player became the fourth case of the disease in the Bundesliga in 2022.
The cancer of Boetius, 28, who arrived at Hertha from Mainz in the latest transfer window, was discovered on Wednesday during a urological examination.
“Let’s stick together, just like Hertha’s family”, the club’s football director, Fredi Bobic, said in a statement. “As sad as this news is, we are full of hope and confidence that Jean-Paul will recover and be back with us as soon as possible,” he continued.
The treatment of Boetius should include surgery.
The Dutchman joins his teammate Marco Richter, Union Berlin player Timo Baumgartl and Borussia Dortmund player Sebastian Haller among the Bundesliga players diagnosed with the disease this year..
After recovering, Richter and Baumgartl returned to the field, while Haller, who was diagnosed in July, is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
Asked by the German news agency SID, the director of the testicular tumor center of the Asklepios clinic in Hamburg, Klaus-PeterDieckmann, explained that there is no link between sport and cancer.
According to him, theMen of professional sports age are statistically exposed to this disease. “When men get cancer at this age, between the ages of 20 and 40, it’s almost always testicular cancer,” said the expert. “So it’s not surprising that Bundesliga players are affected.”
German football players do not undergo regular tests for testicular cancer as it is not mandatory, but some teams, such as Union Berlin, have started testing their players to detect the disease in time.
Source: DN
