The Premier League team stated that the health issue was not detected in earlier cardiac screening tests, which are routinely administered to elite players each season.
Enock Mwepu, a midfielder for Brighton, has retired at the age of 24 due to inherited heart disease.
This season, he has appeared six times in the Premier League, with his most recent outing coming in last month’s 5-2 triumph over Leicester City.
If Mwepu continues to play, he risks experiencing a potentially fatal cardiac episode.
“The illness, which can develop over time, would put Enock at a very high risk of a possibly catastrophic cardiac episode if he continued to play competitive football,” Brighton stated in a statement.
The Premier League team stated that the health issue was not detected in earlier cardiac screening tests, which are routinely administered to elite players each season.
“We are all utterly devastated for Enock,” said the chairman of Brighton, Tony Bloom.
“Until a club, we will provide him with all the love, assistance, and support we can muster as he makes a full recovery and then decides his next steps in life.”
As a teenager playing for Salzburg, Mwepu made his debut for Zambia.
He joined Brighton the previous year.