A community in Sydney is stunned over the news that 24-year-old Irish soccer player Matthew McGuigan died suddenly Saturday.

McGuigan, who belonged to Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and captained the Kildress Wolfe Tones, had moved to Sydney with his girlfriend less than 48 hours before. Shortly afterward he “fell ill” and passed away, though no cause of death has been released.

“Our Club and Parish are now (in) dark places following the totally traumatising death of our so dear Matty McGuigan,” the Kildress Wolfe Tones posted on social media.

As of earlier this year Ireland had the fourth-highest rate of excess deaths in the European Union, though Irish authorities are not sure of the cause. 

Australian officials have also been struggling to explain an increase in all-cause mortality. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 30,000 all-cause excess deaths in 2022, a 15% increase over baseline and the highest death rate in Australia since World War II.

McGuigan’s sudden death also highlights a disturbing rise in sudden deaths among athletes.

In September British professional soccer player Maddy Cusack was found dead at age 27. While a cause of death has not been speculated, Derbyshire Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. Cusack was vice-captain of the Sheffield United women’s team.

Nearly 2,000 athletes have suffered sudden cardiac arrests (SCDs) since 2021, 70% of whom have died. Prior to that, it was considered a “well-known occurrence” for an average of 27 athletes per year to suffer SCDs. Other recent reports have shown a disturbing recent 5-fold increase in cardiac events among FIFA players.

While it is unknown if McGuigan suffered a cardiac arrest, medical “experts” and media operatives have been using the term Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) to explain sudden deaths like these, which occur most commonly in people under 40. 

“Healthy young people are dying suddenly and unexpectedly from a mysterious syndrome – as doctors seek answers through a new national register,” wrote the Daily Mail in June last year.