MPs want inquiry on brain injury link

A CROSS-PARTY group of MPs and peers will table a report tomorrow calling for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into concussion in sport and funding for independent research to investigate the link between head injuries and early onset dementia.

The group, led by Labour MP Chris Bryant and Paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, will praise The Mail on Sunday’s long-running concussion campaign, while urging sport’s authorities to improve protocols following decades of inaction.

‘Professional sport has dragged its heels for too long over the risks associated with concussion,’ said one contributor to the report.

‘Sport must simplify the message and tell parents very clearly that concussion can kill.’

Last week, we exclusively revealed that former England and West Brom star Jeff Astle, who died in 2002 aged 59 suffering severe dementia, was the first English professional footballer to be diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), found in American footballers.

The FA promised a 10-year joint study with the Professional Footballers Association into head injuries after Astle’s death but our investigation found the study was never completed due to woeful under-resourcing.

‘The Astle case shows that complacency is just not good enough,’ said Bryant.

‘We are letting players, especially young players, down if we don’t take this seriously, and soon.’

Astle’s family will be at the House of Commons, along with Peter and Carol Robinson, whose 14-year-old son Ben died in 2011 after sustaining serious head injuries while playing rugby.