Ministers are to pilot a new programme that will allow sportsmen and women from local associations to get a rigorous heart-check to see whether they have any hidden cardiac problems.

O'Donnell, the captain of Motherwell football club, died from heart failure while playing against Dundee United at the turn of the year. His death – the latest in a series afflicting footballers in recent years – prompted immediate demands for mandatory heart checks to be given to footballers and all sportsmen and women.

Figures show that approximately eight people under 35 die suddenly each week in the UK of cardiac abnormalities. Around 80% of sudden accidental deaths in athletes are due to inherited or congenital heart problems.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told the SNP conference in Edinburgh yesterday that a new pilot scheme would be created whereby amateur athletes could go to have their own cardiac systems checked. The scheme will be run together with the Scottish Football Association.

Participants will be asked to fill in a questionnaire so their family history can be checked. They will then be given an electrocardiogram (ECG), a test which measures the electrical activity of the heart, to check for any abnormalities.

They will also be offered ultrasound tests.

Sturgeon said: "Everyone in Scotland was shocked by the tragic death over Christmas of footballer Phil O'Donnell. Sudden cardiac arrest is rare, very rare. But it does claim too many fit, active young lives.

"There have been many calls since Phil O'Donnell's death to introduce heart screening for all young athletes. Professional sports men and women can often access screening tests through their sporting bodies. But there is currently no access at all for non-professionals.

"So I can announce today that the Government is working with the Scottish Football Association to establish a pilot programme that will provide, for the first time, a free screening service for amateur athletes in Scotland."

The pilot programme will be based at the sports medicine centre at Hampden stadium and will be open to over-16s who are involved in organised amateur sports. A source close to Sturgeon added: "If it is successful it will then potentially be extended to other parts of Scotland as well."

Former footballer Pat Nevin, who has campaigned for better protection, welcomed the move last night. "It's a good start and well done to them. I hope it is something that they will roll out further across the country.

"This is something that affects not just footballers but all athletes. If you catch it through a check, then you can give the athlete the option of whether to carry on, perhaps with beta-blockers."

The move will bring Scotland nearer to other European countries where strict health checks are carried out on athletes.

Italian law requires every athlete to have an annual fitness certificate before they are permitted to participate in any event. Sports clubs and schools have to take responsibility for their students' fitness to participate.

Demands for tougher precautions have stepped up in the wake of O'Donnell's death, with former footballers such as Rangers star Mark Hateley warning that British sportsmen and women were not given adequate protection compared with those abroad.

Tragic toll

Phil O'Donnell's death is believed to have been caused by either a seizure or a heart attack but he was not the first player to die in such tragic circumstances. Among other victims were Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta, who died last August three days after a series of cardiac arrests during a game against Getafe.

The previous year, Victor Alfonso Guerrero, a 17-year-old Colombian who played for Envigado, died suddenly during a training session. Two players died in 2004: Hungarian Miklos Feher, of Portuguese giants Benfica, collapsed during a match, while Brazilian Paulo Sergio de Oliveira Silva, of Sao Caetano, died in hospital after suffering cardio respiratory failure.

Eddie Barnes

Reproduced with permission

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