Now pupils face ban on heading footballs

A BAN on children heading footballs could be introduced to Scotland in weeks.

The Scottish Football Association wants to introduce the measure after a report found links between heading and dementia in later life. It is expected to announce a ban on under-12s heading the ball in training later this month.

Scotland would become the first country in Europe to restrict heading the ball. A similar ban is already in place in the US – but the English FA has no plans for change. The Scottish move comes after the Glasgow University study found former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to suffer dementia and other serious neurological diseases.

After former England player Jeff Astle died in 2002, a coroner described his death as an ‘industrial disease’ partially caused by heading heavy footballs. The Scottish FA’s doctor John MacLean said he believed restrictions on heading the ball were common sense.

He stressed: ‘We need to take some sensible, pragmatic steps... and that’s largely going to be about trying to reduce that overall burden – the overall times that young players head. Heading in training is much more common than in matches.’

The move was backed by former players, including ex-Wales and Celtic striker John Hartson. He said: ‘There have been some serious situations where players have lost their lives and ex-legends suffering from dementia, so I’m glad the SFA are leading the rest of football and doing something.’

However, the English FA said there was no evidence to suggest that heading in youth football would be more of a risk than at other stages in a professional footballer’s career.