Basketball player, 23, critical after brawl in Nicosia (Update 2)

A 23-year-old professional basketball player is in critical condition at the Nicosia general hospital after a brawl outside a nightclub in the capital earlier on Sunday.

Limassol’s AEL basketball club said this concerned their player, US national Corey Manigault, who is intubated in critical condition but stable. Two others were also injured, the sports club said: Brandon Averette, another AEL basketball player, and Manigault’s partner.

Police said earlier they were alerted at around 5 am of a brawl outside a nightclub in Nicosia and the injury of a person who was taken to hospital. They said they located at the hospital a man and a woman with injuries, who said they had been attacked by people they did not know. A third person, 23, was in critical condition, police had said.

AEL initially said that Manigault, though he was in a very serious condition with brain injuries, he was out of danger. In its latest update, however, it said he was critical but stable. “He remains intubated and under sedation at the ICU of the Nicosia general hospital,” AEL said in a statement.

“Doctors hope it will all turn out positively but it is still too early for safe conclusions,” it added. The effort to remove the ventilator is expected to start on Monday morning, it said. “We are not yet able to know how long this effort will take and if any damage has been caused.”

The basketballer’s mother is making arrangements to fly to Cyprus on Tuesday.