Football World Pays Tribute to Davide Astori After Tragic Death of Fiorentina Defender

The football world has paid tribute to Davide Astori after news of his sudden death was confirmed on Sunday.

The 31-year-old was found dead in his room at La di Moret' hotel ahead of his side's game against Udinese.

A statement from the club read: "Fiorentina are profoundly shaken and forced to announce that their captain Davide Astori has died.

"For this terrible and delicate situation, and above all out of respect for his family, we appeal to the sensitivity of the media."

Fiorentina's game was immediately called off and all other matches in the division were postponed shortly after.

Clubs and players across Italy have since taken to Twitter to pay tribute to Astori.

“Ciao dear Asto,” Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon wrote on Instagram. “I rarely publicly express my thoughts on a person, because I always allowed the beauty and unique nature of rapports, of reciprocal respect and affection, to avoid being used or misused by those who don’t have the decency to respect certain bonds.

“In your case, I feel the need to make an exception to the rule, because you have a young wife and family who are suffering, but above all a little girl, who deserves to know that her father was in every way A GOOD PERSON… a TRULY GOOD PERSON…

“You were the best expression of an old-fashioned world, one that people have left behind, with values like altruism, elegance, politeness and respect towards others.

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“Compliments genuinely, you were one of the best sporting figures I ever came up against. R.I.P. Your crazy Gigi.”

Former Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, meanwhile, wrote on Twitter: "RIP Davide #Astori. My thoughts are with his family and his friends."

Clubs including Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United also paid their respects on Twitter, alongside Astori's former teams AC Milan and Roma.