Managers would abuse concussion timeouts, says Fifa medical chief

in Moscow

Fifa yesterday ruled out ‘concussion bins’ being introduced to football – with the chairman of its medical committee claiming they would be abused by managers.

The Daily Telegraph exclusively revealed this week that Premier League doctors were pushing for teams to be allowed to make temporary substitutions for up to 10 minutes while players who take a blow to the head are assessed by medics.

That would require a change to the Laws of the Game, something Michel D’hooghe, Fifa’s medical chief, said he would not support.

“I am not in favour of temporary substitutions, for many reasons,” he said. Implying managers might try to exploit such a rule change for tactical reasons, he added: “I hope you don’t believe that this would be used rightly every time.”

No change can be made to the laws without the support of Fifa, the medical policy of which is set by a committee led by D’hooghe.

Premier League doctors would also like to see a rule considered which would allow a permanent substitution to be made when a player has been concussed – even if a team have already used their permitted replacements. The International Football Association Board approved the introduction of a fourth substitution this year, but only in extra-time.

Concussion timeouts are used in rugby union, which also allows temporary substitutions for blood injuries. But there have been examples of that being abused, including the ‘Bloodgate’ scandal in 2009.

After concussion proved controversial at the last World Cup, Fifa changed its protocols for this tournament. Referees have been asked to stop games for three minutes when a player suffers a blow to the head and video replays will be used to diagnose potential concussions.