Bolton player collapses on pitch

London - Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba was rushed to hospital on Saturday as medics appeared to try to resuscitate him after he collapsed during an FA Cup match that was subsequently abandoned.

Muamba fell to the ground in the 41st minute with no players around him and the quarter-final between Bolton and Tottenham was immediately stopped with the scores locked at 1-1.

Medics rushed onto the pitch with a defibrillator and treated the 23-year-old Muamba, pumping his chest for around six minutes of treatment.

Some players appeared to be praying as fans chanted his name between periods of complete silence at White Hart Lane.

After Muamba was carried off on a stretcher with an oxygen mask and with his chest still being pumped, all the players also left the pitch before referee Howard Webb abandoned the game.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle and striker Kevin Davies accompanied the player to hospital.

Bolton said there were no further details on his condition.

Bolton team-mate Stuart Holden, who was watching the game on television, tweeted: "waiting anxiously for updates from teammates. Fab is a fighter!"

Fabrice Ndala Muamba was born in what was then called Zaire on April 6, 1988. His father left the country because of political turmoil and settled in England, and Muamba joined Arsenal's youth academy in 2002.

He made his debut at age 17 on October 25, 2005, in the League Cup at Sunderland, and was loaned to Birmingham in the League Championship the following season. The loan was made permanent in May 2007, and he made his Premier League debut for Birmingham in 2007-08.

He joined Bolton in June 2008.

Muamba has been part of England's youth team system and was a member of their team at last year's European Under-21 Championship, where he came on as a substitute against Ukraine and started against the Czech Republic.