Brain charity hits out at Giggs after James incident

RYAN Giggs and Daniel James have been heavily criticised by brain injury charity Headway over their handling of an apparent concussion incident during Sunday night’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Croatia.

James clashed heads with Croatia’s Domagoj Vida in the first half in Cardiff and initially appeared to have lost consciousness. Giggs said that the player did not suffer a concussion in the incident and he had stayed down because he was “streetwise” and “using his nous”.

James was treated at length on the pitch and Giggs said further tests were carried out at halftime to ensure the Manchester United player was fit to continue.

Headway, however, took a dim view of Giggs’ comments.

Chief executive Peter McCabe said: “Like most people, our immediate concern was for the player’s health. As soon as the incident occurred, he was attended to by medics who then determined he was fit to continue.

“Although it is argued that concussion protocols were followed, the rules state that if a concussion is suspected a player must be removed from the game.

“To all watching, it appeared that Daniel James lost consciousness. This in itself must surely have given enough reason to take a cautious approach.

“However, Ryan Giggs’ claims are shocking.

“If that is the case and James was ‘acting’, it raises serious questions about the player’s understanding of the seriousness of concussion. Similarly, we have serious concerns about terms like ‘streetwise’ or ‘just using his nous’. It is simply not acceptable for teams to use concussion protocols for tactical gain.”

The Football Association of Wales has been contacted for a response to Headway’s comments.