It’s not weak to speak up if you have symptoms of concussion
Varane wants more honesty to protect health
RAPHAEL VARANE has called on more players to speak up about concussion to safeguard their long-term health.
The Manchester United star and World Cup winner with France has revealed he has suffered multiple concussion issues during his career.
One of those episodes occurred this season, when Varane was forced to miss a United game after flagging up his symptoms to the club doctor.
After Varane raised his concerns, United’s medical team performed tests on the 30-year-old, which confirmed he was suffering from the effects of concussion.
Varane, who won the World Cup in 2018, revealed he was concussed during the 2014 tournament in Brazil and also for Real Madrid in a Champions League tie against Manchester City in 2020 (right).
Despite progress being made on identifying concussion and steps put in place to protect players from its effects, Varane feels players are still too afraid to raise their concerns – for fear of being seen as weak. “For a footballer, it feels weak to say you’re tired, that you have migraines or eye fatigue,” he said.
“As footballers used to playing at the highest level, we’re used to pain, we’re a bit like soldiers, tough guys, symbols of physical strength.
“But these are symptoms that are quite invisible. If your leg hurts and you limp, everyone sees it.
“But it (concussion) often comes across as excuses for not being up for the challenge. So, at first, we tell ourselves that it will pass, without knowing that these are symptoms linked to the concussion.” Varane recalled how concussion was the major factor in some of the worst performances of his career – only he did not know it at the time.
“When you look at three of the worst matches of my career, there are at least two in which I had suffered a concussion a few days earlier,” he told French newspaper L’equipe. “Against Germany in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup and with Real Madrid against Manchester City in the 2020 Champions League.
“If someone had spoken to me at that time, I don’t even know if I would have been able to respond. I don’t remember the match after this shock.
“On the plane, I’m not well and I let it be known. Then I try to follow a recovery protocol to eat well and rest.
“I was not in my normal state and so I was taken care of. I had lost weight because I was dehydrated.”
Varane admitted he would have missed many more games in his career had he known more about concussion and its symptoms at the time.
But now the married father of three is more aware of the dangers of
‘For a footballer it feels weak to say you have migraine or eye fatigue’
‘In two of my worst games, I’d earlier suffered a concussion’
concussion, he is no longer prepared to take risks.
“Looking back, I say to myself, ‘If I had known it was concussion, would I have said it, even if it meant not playing this match?’” added Varane.
“I don’t even know if there were tests 10 years ago. How can I measure at that moment my ability to play or not?
“In 10 years, I have never wanted to talk about it, because it can sound like an apology and I never wanted it to look like one, because it’s not.
“What we will never know is what would have happened if I had taken another impact to the head. “When you know repeated concussions have a potentially fatal effect, you tell yourself things can go very wrong.
“At the time, I wasn’t a family man. But today, at 30 and with three children, I think differently.”