A Brazilian under-22 basketballer was seriously injured on Thursday when a backboard collapsed onto him during a training session in the capital Brasilia.

David Henrique Conrado Meira suffered two cardiac arrests when he was struck on the neck and shoulder by falling debris after attempting a slam-dunk, O Globo reported.

The incident occurred while the 19-year-old was training with the under-22 squad of Brazil's national league club Brasilia.

He was attended to by a doctor at the scene before being rushed to the Base do Distrito Federal Hospital where he was breathing with the help of a ventilator.

"We are all very shaken by what has happened," the team's coach Ronaldo Pacheco said.