Former City stars seek cash help for families
SIX former Leicester City players are among a list of ex-professionals lobbying for financial support to be given to the families of former footballers suffering with dementia, writes Luke Pawley.
Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey are among the 60 names asking the Premier League, Professional Footballers Association and Football Association to help families pay for residential care.
The move comes through a charity called Head for Change, which also wants young footballers to be educated about the dangers of dementia.
Also among the list of 60 are former Foxes Tony Cottee, Brian Deane, Steve Howey and Martin Keown, as well as ex-City boss Dave Bassett, according to MailOnline.
They join the likes of TV pundits Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Chris Sutton.
A recent study, conducted by Dr Willie Stewart, found that footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease, with defenders five times more likely.
Meanwhile, there is no difference in the likelihood of goalkeepers developing dementia than any of the general public.
Dawn Astle, who began the Jeff Astle Foundation to campaign for answers after her father died in 2002 aged 59, told the Mirror earlier this month: “Every call we get from families, telling us a footballer has died, is heartbreaking.
“There seems to have been more lately.”
The foundation is aware of more than 300 ex-footballers who were diagnosed with dementia, including the first cases from those who played in the 1980s.
Ms Astle said: “That is just the cases we know about, there could be many more.
“Coronavirus may be creating a lot of challenges for football, but the fact that so many players are dying from dementia should always be the priority.”