James ‘acting’ injured angers brain charity
Headway slams Giggs for ‘streetwise’ comment Wales player is setting a ‘dangerous example’
Brain injury charity Headway has hit out at Ryan Giggs’s “shocking” claim that Daniel James was being “streetwise” when he appeared to have been knocked out against Croatia.
It has also accused the Manchester United winger of setting a dangerous example and putting medics under unfair pressure if he was – as Giggs implied – exaggerating the impact of the injury.
James went down alarmingly following a knee-high challenge by Domagoj Vida during Wales’s 1-1 draw on Sunday night and, although the extent of the contact to his head was unclear, he was initially motionless on the ground.
That prompted viewers to wonder how a concussion was not at least suspected and why he was not removed from the pitch. James, though, was allowed to complete the game following treatment and an assessment from medics which included a further half-time check.
Giggs later said his player “stayed down with a bit of acting”, adding that he was “a bit streetwise” and “was just using his nous”.
When asked about the incident in a separate interview with TV channel S4C, James said: “I think it looked a lot worse than it was. I know the doctors rushed on quick, but they’ve got to these days. Thankfully, he didn’t really catch me, it was just maybe the way I’ve gone down. I’m all right.”
The incident comes amid acute concern at the treatment of head injuries in football. The International Football Association Board and Fifa are looking into the possible introduction of concussion substitutes to allow a similar 10-minute offfield head injury assessment as in rugby union. There is also pressure for independent doctors to be introduced to make the decision on whether players should continue.
“Like most people watching the footage of the [James] incident, our immediate concern was for the player’s health,” said Peter Mccabe, the Headway chief executive. “As soon as the incident occurred, he was attended to by the medics who then determined that he was fit to continue. Although it is argued that concussion protocols were followed, the rules state that if a concussion is suspected, a player must be removed from the game. To all watching, it appeared that Daniel James lost consciousness.
“Regardless of his manager’s comments after the game, this in itself must surely have given enough reason to take a cautious approach.”
Mccabe added: “Ryan Giggs’s claim that the player was being streetwise by staying down and appearing to have been knocked out is shocking. If that is the case and James was acting, it raises serious questions about the player’s understanding of the seriousness of concussion. Not only has he put his own medical team under intense and unfair scrutiny, but he’s also set a dangerous example for the millions watching at home.
“Similarly, we have serious concerns about terms like ‘streetwise’ or that the player was just ‘using his nous’. It is simply not acceptable for teams to use concussion protocols for tactical gain.”