Children face ban on heading a ball

CHILDREN could be banned from heading the ball “in a matter of weeks” due to fears over a link between football and dementia.

The Scottish FA is reportedly determined to lead the way on the issue after it was suggested former players are more at risk of dying from the debilitating disease.

It is understood a ban on U/12s heading the ball in training could be announced within the next few weeks.

The United States put a similar ban in place in 2015 but the SFA would become the first European country to impose such a restriction.

The decision follows the release of a report by the University of Glasgow last October, which discovered former professional footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of a degenerative brain disease.

Former Arsenal and Celtic striker John Hartson praised the Scottish FA for their stance on the subject.

He said: “Heading was a massive part of my game.

Managers bought me because I could head the ball.

“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 about it.”

While acknowledging there is no indisputable evidence at this stage, the Scottish FA’s doctor, John

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MacLean, believes the restriction is “common sense”.

“We can’t wait on the evidence one way or the other on heading,” he added.

“We need to take some sensible, pragmatic steps at the moment and that’s largely going to be about trying to reduce that overall burden, the overall times that young players head – and heading in training is much more common than in matches.”

Meanwhile, Dr Willie Stewart, who led the study which pointed toward a link, said: “I’m delighted. I think that while there were many questions left unanswered by our report, I think the one thing that came through is that football needs to change.”