Rio de Janeiro, May 9 (IANS) A football player in Brazil's second division league collapsed on the field while playing a match, and died soon after, officials have said.

The incident took place Saturday during a match between Cabofriense and Mesquita in the 13th round of the second division of the Rio de Janeiro state championship.

Mesquita's midfielder Fred suddenly fell ill and collapsed on the field in the 36th minute of the first half. An ambulance was quickly ushered on to the field and paramedics attempted to revive the player. He was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him brought dead.

The match was suspended due to the unfortunate incident. Cabofriense was leading the game 1-0.

"The referees acted correctly by suspending the match. There was no other way to handle it. The result of a soccer match is definetly not as important as the life of a human being," Valdemir Mendes, president of Cabofriense, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The cause of Fred's sudden death is still unknown.