MONACO (AFP) - Former French international star David Ginola was described as "awake and improving" after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass on Friday, Professor Gilles Dreyfus, who carried out the operation, told AFP.

The 49-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle star suffered a suspected heart attack on Thursday while playing golf in the afternoon heat at Mandelieu, west of Cannes in southern France, and was airlifted to hospital in Monaco.