FOOTBALL CHIEFS HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS
15 YEARS TOO LATE Ex-Celt hits out as study proves link between football & dementia
CELTIC legend Chris Sutton blasted football chiefs after a study found a link between players and dementia.
He said the findings left them with “blood on their hands”.
CHRIS SUTTON last night insisted the footballing authorities had “blood on their hands” after a study revealed male professional footballers are five times more likely to die of Alzheimer’s than other men. The former Celtic star’s father Mike is battling the disease, caused by years of heading a football as a professional for Norwich City. The report, commissioned by the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association, assessed the medical records of 7676 men who played professional football in Scotland and were born between 1900 and 1976. Their records were matched against more than 23,000 people from the general population, with the study led by consultant neuropathologist Dr Willie Stewart of Glasgow University. His findings report that the “risk ranged from a five-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease, through an approximately four-fold increase in motor neurone disease, to a two-fold increase in Parkinson’s disease in former professional footballers compared to population controls”. Sutton said: “The confirmation that there is a link between football and dementia brings me no satisfaction. “It makes me angry. Angry for people like my dad, Mike, and other former footballers who are dying in the most horrible and humiliating way. “Angry for future generations who will suffer, too, because this study was rolled out 15 years too late. “In November 2002, a coroner ruled Jeff Astle, the ex-England striker famed for his ability in the air, died from dementia brought on by repeatedly heading the ball. “They found that he had a brain similar to that of a boxer. That was the moment to commission a study. Not in 2017. “The PFA – led by Gordon Taylor – had a duty of care to their members. They let them down and, in my opinion, their chief executive has blood on his hands. Taylor’s reaction yesterday, about how these findings are ‘of considerable importance’ to their members, was an insult. It accepted no responsibility.
“If he had anything about him, he would have released a two-word statement, ‘I’m sorry’. Sorry to all the footballers I failed, past and present. Then the honourable thing would have been for him to walk.
“For me, the outcome of this study confirms Taylor let his members down. You cannot find a solution without first finding the link and that should have been confirmed long before yesterday. Taylor knew about Astle, then when testing finally started in 2002, it emerged in 2014 that research had stopped long ago with no answers.
“Why? Where was the duty of care? Had I known what we know now, I would not have said yes to heading hundreds of wet, heavy balls at an afternoon training session if asked.
“At least youngsters have that now. My dad is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy [CTE] – a degenerative disease of the brain caused by repetitive brain trauma. He is 75 and first developed symptoms of dementia when he was still in his 60s.
“For those of you who have not had direct contact with this awful disease, let me try to explain it to you. My dad has to wear a nappy. He cannot remember I played football, or that he did either.
“Whereas he was once a fit man, he now struggles with walking. He does not know how to eat. He was totally reliant on my mum and now in 24-hour care. It is no existence and I believe football was behind his deterioration.
“So what do we do with this information now? There is already a ban on kids heading footballs in
My dad has to wear a nappy. He does not know how to eat CHRIS SUTTON ON HIS DAD’S BRAIN TRAUMA
the United States. Maybe it is time to bring that to these shores.
“A Premier League centre back will head the ball hundreds of times a week in training sessions. Do we limit that, too? I’m not saying we ban heading in football.
“But at least this study now gives every youngster a choice. Any kids in academies, you now know the dangers.
“You can decide if you want to pursue a career in professional football or try something else. You can decide whether you want to practise heading the ball over and over. I would have liked that choice, too.”
The death of Astle triggered concerns that heading footballs could cause dementia.
The coroner found the cause of his death was repeated minor traumas consistent with heading the old-style footballs, which could increase in weight by as much as 40 per cent when they got wet.
A verdict of “death by industrial injury” was recorded.
Former Dundee United star Frank Kopel and Celtic’s legendary 1967 European Cup-winning skipper Billy McNeill both died of dementia in 2008 and 2019 respectively.
SFA president Rod Petrie and chief executive Ian Maxwell have called upon Uefa and Fifa to come up with a global strategy.
Petrie said: “It is important to outline that this is only the start in truly understanding the relationship.
“Further research is needed to determine what exactly causes the increased rates of dementia and while this will naturally involve the wider scientific community, it is important that world football takes a lead on this to ensure the appropriate action to such a complex matter.”
Former footballer Maxwell said: “As someone who played senior football for almost 20 years, I understand the importance of this research and, equally, how football responds to it. The game has changed immeasurably during the timeline examined by the researchers and we need to understand what exactly causes the increased rates of dementia.”
FA chairman Greg Clarke said: “It is important that the global football family now unites to find the answers and provide a greater understanding of this complex issue. The FA is committed to doing all it can to make that happen.”
PFA chief executive Taylor said it was “incumbent on football globally to come together to address this issue in a comprehensive and united manner”.
He added: “Research must continue to answer more specific questions about what needs to be done to identify and reduce risk factors.”
Dr Stewart said: “An important aspect of this work has been the ability to look across a range of health outcomes in former professional footballers. This allows us to build a more complete picture of health in this population.
“Our data show that while former footballers had higher dementia rates, they had lower rates of death due to other major diseases.
“As such, while every effort must be made to identify the factors contributing to the increased risk of neurodegenerative disease to allow this risk to be reduced, there are also wider potential health benefits of playing football to be considered.”
The FA said it was important to try to establish “whether or not the results from this historic group of former professional footballers relates, in any way, to the modernday professional footballer”.
Dr Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “The study focused on former professional football players and doesn’t tell us anything about whether the modern professional or grassroots game should change or how.
“Football associations across the world must review emerging evidence to ensure players can enjoy the game safely at all levels.”
FA chairman Clarke is due to take the findings to Zurich tomorrow to a meeting of IFAB, the game’s law-makers, to try to speed along the introduction of concussion substitutes.