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By Mike Collett
LUCERNE, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Every player involved in Euro 2008 must undergo cardiac screening before the finals next June, UEFA's general secretary David Taylor said on Saturday.
UEFA also ruled that the official team doctor would be required to sit in the dugout alongside the coach and the rest of the squad during matches.
"All possible precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of the players," Taylor told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting of UEFA's executive committee before Sunday's draw for next year's finals
"Every player must have a cardiac screening and it is the responsibility of the national associations' medical experts to ensure their players are tested.
"They will also have to decide what action they will take if for any reason a player fails a test."
There have been a number of heart-related deaths among young footballers at senior level in recent years.
The best known case is that of Cameroon's Marc-Vivien Foe who collapsed during Cameroon's 1-0 victory against Colombia in a Confederations Cup match in June 2003 in Lyon, France, and died shortly afterwards.
Since then there have been at least six sudden deaths involving professional footballers, most of them found to be heart-related.
The most recent case involved Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta who died on Aug. 28, three days after collapsing during a Primera Liga match against Getafe.
Team doctors usually sit on the bench but until now competition rules have not obliged them to do so.
The committee also agreed that giant screens could show live match action in the stadium.
Taylor said that, for the first time at a European championship, the match action could be shown but that no controversial incidents would be replayed. (Editing by Clare Fallon)
