Former France and Tottenham winger David Ginola is recovering from a quadruple heart bypass operation after collapsing during a football match.
Mr Ginola, 49, was said to have been airlifted to a Monaco hospital “in a catastrophic state” on Thursday after falling ill while playing in high temperatures.
The five-hour operation was carried out on Friday morning, French media reported.
A source told newspaper Nice-Matin: “Always be careful, the next few hours will be critical, but the operation went well and, given his age, there is hope.”
He added Mr Ginola, a former Premier League winger with Newcastle and Tottenham, was lucky to receive immediate treatment because “his case is extremely serious”.
Professor Gilles Dreyfus, reported to have performed the operation, said: “He’s knocked out and does not remember anything, but it goes well, I could talk with him."
He added the former player had "very complicated coronary lesions which forced us to perform a quadruple bypass".
Mr Ginola appeared to downplay concerns for his health on his Twitter profile.
A post read: “Hello world, never slept better. I’m fine, just need to rest a bit. Thank you so much all of you for your magnificent support.”
The midfield ace fell to the ground at the home of the tournament organiser in Mandelieu on the French Riviera.
A tweet uploaded on his account afterwards read: “Footy match in the midday sun, not very clever. Now having some tests done. Whoever voted for a World Cup in Qatar in the summer?”
But journalist Jean Philippe Lustyk claimed the message was posted by Mr Ginola’s agent and that he remained in a coma at hospital.
He said: “He is in a stationary state. He is in a coma. There was a cardiac arrest, he had a heart attack on the pitch. He fell in front of us.”
Last year, Mr Ginola failed in his bid for the Fifa presidency after he announced he would stand for election only to later withdraw from the race.
