Arild Berg (17 July 1975 – 22 June 2019) was a Norwegian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a midfielder.

Career

A member of a noted footballing family, he was a son of Harald Berg and younger brother of Ørjan and

Runar Berg Runar Berg (born 7 October 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for Bodø/Glimt, Rosenborg, Tromsø, Lyn, and Venezia. Berg is brother of former Bodø/Glimt and Rosenborg player Ørjan Berg ...

, all Norway internationals who played in foreign leagues. Making his Bodø/Glimt league debut in 1993, Arild Berg was officially drafted into the first team in 1994; regarded as one of Norway's greatest talents and perhaps more so than his older brothers,The rise and tragic fall of Arild Berg, Norway’s lost footballing soul
Michael Yokhin, The Guardian, 27 July 2019 he chose to never represent Norway as a youth or under-21 international. After the 1995 season he retired, citing a desire to structure his everyday activities more freely. Ahead of the 1997 season he rejected an offer from

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

and signed for lowly FK Gevir Bodø. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, Berg enjoyed a second spell with Bodø/Glimt. Amassing 110 league games, he fell ill and chose to leave Bodø/Glimt. A complicated process ended in a 2002 transfer to

Lyn Ubisoft Montpellier is a French video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Castelnau-le-Lez. Founded in 1994 as Ubi Pictures, it is best known for developing the ''Rayman'' and ''Beyond Good & Evil'' series. At 350 employees as of Se ...

, though he was not able to train much. Lyn sponsor

Atle Brynestad Atle may refer to: *Atle (given name), a Norwegian given name * ''Atle''-class icebreakers, a class of Finnish and Swedish icebreakers * ''Atle'' (1974 icebreaker), the lead ship of her class *Atle-Tiba The Atle-Tiba, also known as Atletiba or At ...

paid for various treatments.

Mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...

was believed to be Berg's diagnosis, with

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

later being stated as the cause. Berg stayed with Lyn for the remainder of his contract, throughout the 2004 season, without ever playing a game and barely training. Due to his condition he was advised to cut all ties with football, and he later stated that even watching matches on television would cause him great stress. On 22 June 2019, Berg died at the age of 43. According to a statement from his family, "Arild chose to leave us", indicating that he committed suicide.

References

1975 births 2019 deaths Sportspeople from Bodø Norwegian footballers FK Bodø/Glimt players Eliteserien players Association football midfielders Suicides in Norway 2019 suicides Berg family {{Norway-footy-midfielder-stub