FA TO ACT ON DEMENTIA LINK TO HEADING BALL
The English Football Association yesterday finally announced that they are commissioning research into possible links between heading and dementia. The decision comes amid claims by one leading scientist that their approach to the investigation is fundamentally flawed. More than 15 years after first promising research, following an inquest that showed former West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle suffered neurological damage by heading the ball, the FA are paying a six-figure sum to a University of Glasgow research team. The study, led by Dr William Stewart, a top scientist in the field, will look at the physical and mental health of approximately 15,000 former professional players and compare them to the wider population, in an attempt to discover if neuro-degenerative disease is more common in ex-professional footballers. A growing number of players, including strikers Mick Harford and Peter Crouch on these pages in the past week, are voicing concerns that heading may have made them vulnerable to the disease. But a scientist who contributed to this month’s Alan Shearer BBC documentary on the subject said that work also needed to be done to establish what effect heading a ball actually has on the brain. Dr Magdalena Ietswaart, co-author of a 2016 study that revealed the shortterm effects, welcomed the decision to fund research but said that more information on possible links was urgently needed. She said: ‘The truth is we do not know enough about the link between heading and brain damage, if there is a link, because the research has not been done yet. ‘We need research not just to find out whether there is a link but also what is the link. . ‘The Football Association are asking the question the public has asked but by only asking that question — by putting all their eggs in one basket — there is a risk we will still not know what the dangers of heading the ball are for the 250 million players worldwide who head the ball many times, often from a young age.’ FA chief executive Martin Glenn insisted the research project, which will get under way in January was one of the most comprehensive studies ever commissioned into the long-term health of former footballers. The FA are co-funding the research with the Professional Footballers’ Association.