Romania's interior ministry has suspended the licence of a private ambulance company that transported Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng to hospital after he collapsed on the pitch during a match on Friday. He died later in hospital.
The ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that it found defibrillators with expired batteries in some ambulances belonging to Puls, and medicine used in resuscitation procedures that had expired.
Ekeng, 26, collapsed on the pitch seven minutes after going on as a substitute against Viitorul Constanta.
He was taken a short distance to the hospital where doctors tried for more than an hour to resuscitate him.
The ministry suspended Puls' licence for one month to remedy the situation and fined it 23,800 lei ($6,050).
Ekeng's agent, Hasan Anil Eken, criticised the treatment the player received.
"The ambulance arrived late," the agent told local media, according to Reuters. "Actually there were three ambulances around the stadium but none of them had a defibrillator."
FIFPro, the world footballers' union, issued a statement along with Romanian union AFAN saying that they were "concerned about the level of first-aid treatment available."
The statement read: "While it is too early to draw any conclusions from this tragic accident, as police continue to investigate the circumstances, it is clear some Romanian clubs have a history of skimping on medical facilities.
"After Henry Chinonso Ihelewere died in a pre-season match in 2012, AFAN asked the Romanian federation to make it compulsory for clubs to have fully-equipped ambulances at all official and friendly matches.
"It would have cost as little as 400 euros per club per match to have state-of-the-art equipment available but the plan was not adopted, AFAN president Emilian Hulubei said.
"Instead, clubs in the top three divisions have been allowed to have ambulances on standby with minimal equipment."
Hulubei said: "We are waiting for the results of the autopsy but it is possible that Patrick Ekeng could have died to save 400 euros. If that is true it is very sad."
He added: "We are continually fighting for more rights for players. Footballers in Romania are a long way from being treated the way normal workers should be."
FIFPro general secretary Theo van Seggelen said: "Our thoughts go out to everyone affected. It's simply shocking.
"After local authorities complete their investigation, we expect answers as to whether or not this tragedy could have been avoided."