ITALIAN prosecutors opened a culpable homicide case today over the death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.

The 31-year-old Italy defender was found dead in his hotel room in Udine yesterday, hours before his team were due to face Udinese in a Serie A fixture.

A post mortem will be performed tomorrow and Astori’s funeral will be held at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence on Thursday morning, Fiorentina announced in a statement.

Initial reports suggested Astori’s death may have been the result of a cardiac arrest.

Udine chief prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo said today that a culpable homicide case would be opened, but that it was a formality at this stage and that “no-one has a responsibility for anything.”

Italian news agency ANSA reported him as saying: “An inquiry has been opened for culpable homicide against persons unknown.

“It is a duty to ascertain if the death of Astori came about through tragic fatality or if someone could have foreseen something.

“At this moment no one has responsibility for anything which would seem to us to amount to something.

“It permits us to individualise responsibility if there is any.”

ANSA added that investigators believed Astori had died of natural causes.