A new report has revealed that a number of major European football stadiums are "not adequately prepared" to deal with spectators who suffer heart attacks while attending matches.

The research, which examined 187 venues used by 190 clubs across Europe, found more than 25 per cent do not possess automated external defibrillators, while a higher number have no medical action plan or basic CPR schemes. Time for action regarding cardiovascular emergency care at sports arenas: a lesson from the arena study has been published in the European Heart Journal - the flagship journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

During the 2005-06 season, the period in which the research was conducted, a total of 77 spectators suffered heart attacks while attending a match at one of the venues - a rate of one in 589,000. Professor Mats Börjesson, associate professor of cardiology at Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden, said: "When you consider that our study was looking at what was probably the best-case scenarios - top clubs, with good resources - it would appear that the inadequate arrangements are due to a lack of attention being paid to safety procedures, rather than because of financial constraints.

"At present, there are no formal recommendations about cardiovascular safety procedures at sports arenas in Europe and there still appears to be a lack of knowledge in the non-medical part of the sport. Both education and recommendations in this regard are needed." Börjesson is also chair of the sports cardiology section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, as well as acting as club doctor at Swedish club GAIS.

In addition to Börjesson, Real Madrid club doctor Luis Serratosa; Antonio Pelliccia of the Italian Olympic team and Klaus-Peter Mellwig of the German national handball team also authored the report. The study comprised 190 clubs from 10 countries, including 37 from England, 29 from France, 25 from Holland and 24 from Spain, as well as clubs in Italy, Greece, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and Austria.