There is a moral obligation to act now – not tomorrow
‘The PFA has to be more involved – there are hundreds of former players suffering’
On the day that the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association appeared to congratulate themselves on funding the research that confirmed the link between dementia and the sport, it is worth recalling the response to Jeff Astle’s family when the former striker died prematurely in 2002 aged just 59 but, according to his widow, looking and behaving “more like a man of 109”.
The FA offered Astle’s family two tickets to an England friendly – and then effectively reneged on a promise to complete a 10-year study into the neurological dangers of football with the PFA distancing itself from it all at that time.
Under intense pressure to act, it has come some way since then but the publication of the 22-month study by the Glasgow Brain Injury Research Group, which shows that former professional footballers are 3½ times more likely to die of dementia, is not the end of anything. Jeff ’s daughter, Dawn, is right in her demands that there needs to be further investigation and maybe even legal action amid the allegations that this is something football has sat on, that the authorities have dragged their heels and this remains the game’s “dirty little secret”.
Yes, Fifa and Uefa need to be involved. Of course, it is ultimately their responsibility. Yes, there is the need for further research. Yes, there probably needs to be a task force established to oversee the longer-term measures that need to be put in place, which have to include working out whether heading a football needs to be outlawed from the game on health grounds.
In 2016, The Telegraph launched a campaign to demand action on brain injuries potentially caused by football with the backing of those affected and medical experts – and that campaign will continue.
But there are things that the FA and PFA need to do now – not tomorrow – and not to hand down to a task force to work out. First, the FA needs to do far more on concussion awareness. There are guidelines, but are they promoted enough? It is not just about reissuing them – as they plan to do
– but enforcing them. An obvious measure is to aggressively lobby for the introduction of concussion substitutes and the FA should be going to the game’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board, this week to put that at the top of the agenda for the next meeting of its advisory panels, which takes place tomorrow. Ifab has resisted this until now – but has to act.
As for the PFA, it has to take the lead and be far more involved in the care of former players. There are hundreds of them suffering and while the PFA distributes around £500,000 in benevolent grants, that is far below the annual salary of its chief executive, Gordon Taylor.
It is not just about the PFA paying, but about the PFA demanding that the richest sport in the world led, of course, by the Premier League, channels more money into caring for former players. Surely the health and safety of players should be the most important part of its remit?
A personal view is that it is also time for the FA to follow the lead of the United States and – for now – ban heading the ball in youth football.
The FA does not want to do this and argues there is no evidence to support a ban. Really? “In fact heading is actually significantly less common in children’s games than people think,” the FA says. So, then, why not stop it and make sure until more research is complete? Be pre-emptive. It is not a risk worth taking.
A vital piece of research has been published about football and, so far, the authorities have taken the classic line of simply calling for even more research. Now is the time to be far more proactive. There is sufficient evidence but, above all, there is a moral obligation.