FIFA accused of ‘half measure’ in their new concussion protocol trials
FOOTBALL has been accused of a “half measure” and still adopting “pointlessly dangerous” concussion protocols after FIFA announced that the Club World Cup would trial an additional permanent substitute.
The world governing body has said that the option of an extra substitute for any suspected concussion would send “a strong message” but campaigners are dismayed that football remains out of line with other contact sports which allow temporary concussion substitutes.
As in rugby union, the temporary option gives medics an extra window of at least 10 minutes away from the pitch in which to decide whether a player is permanently removed.
Football’s new system will let each team make an additional change, but does not build in extra off-field time for assessing head injuries or, as in rugby or boxing, give the final say to an independent doctor.
Chris Nowinski, the executive director of the Concussion Legacy Foundation at Boston University, called for football to follow the triedand-tested model in other sports.
Dangerous
“I’m not celebrating this latest FIFA concussion announcement,” he said. “It’s a half measure at best. Soccer needs a temporary sub to allow doctors to take 10-plus minutes to evaluate a player and then return them to the game if they see fit. Short of that is still pointlessly dangerous.”
Research, published in October 2019 by the University of Glasgow, found that former professional footballers were 3.5 times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than the rest of the population.
The lead researcher, Dr Willie Stewart, said that football’s new protocol was “hopeless” and “from the last century”.
Daniel Parslow, whose professional football career ended prematurely following a concussion that had delayed onset symptoms from which he originally played on, also urged football to introduce temporary replacements. “I do feel they have missed the whole point of protecting player welfare here,” he said.
“The permanent concussion substitute still requires medics to make a split-second decision, whereas in other sports the player is removed from the field of play and time is given to properly and thoroughly assess a player.”
Like FIFA, the Football Association and the Premier League have both favoured a system of permanent concussion substitutes and have said that they will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. In announcing the new trials FIFA argued that the new system would prevent a player sustaining another concussion, reduce the pressure on medical personnel and establish a simple procedure for all levels of the game. (© Daily Telegraph, London)