ANKARA

Danish football club Midtjylland announced Tuesday that midfielder Kristoffer Olsson is on a ventilator at a hospital in Denmark due to a brain disease.

"Against the background of the increasing rumors and conjectures that are pending about the reason for Kristoffer Olsson's absence in the recent period, we feel compelled to go out with this announcement to the public," the club said in a statement.

"The 28-year-old Swedish national team player lost consciousness at his home on Tuesday 20 February and was transferred to Aarhus University Hospital, where he is hospitalized and on a ventilator. Kristoffer Olsson is affected by an apparently acute disease related to the brain, which is not due to self-harm of any kind, nor is the cause due to external factors." the statement added.

Kim Kallstrom, the head of the Swedish Football Association, expressed concern about Olsson's health, saying it is "genuinely sad at the heart" of the news that a young person can be affected in this way, and wished him well.

Olsson helped Midtjylland bag the Danish league title in 2014-15 and has previously played for Belgian club Anderlecht and English Premier League club Arsenal.

He also made 47 appearances for Sweden's national football team.