Equipment was changed, rules were implemented, technological tools were introduced to give more “truth” to the game, safety protocols were created, and major competition formats were changed, among many other things. Football has gone through many changes over time, and it will certainly continue this evolutionary process in the future. It is also natural that the upcoming shifts will try to address some concerns about player health.
For example, there have been repeated warnings about the problems that head strikes and sustained hits to the head can cause to football players. The topic is not new and has already been addressed by many figures from the sport, and today it is its turn John Stiles puts his finger on the wound. Styles saw his father, Nobby Styles, die in 2020, a victim of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), caused by the numerous hits he took throughout his career. Naturally, John remains one of the most active voices and does not leave this issue in oblivion.
The same regulatory bodies have already launched action plans to understand and promote players’ brain health, and have also promoted specific changes. In the UK, for example, headers have been banned for children up to the age of 11, and the Premier League has already imposed a maximum of 10 powerful headers per week on each player. Furthermore, additional substitutions in case of concussion are also in effect.
This was a topic that was also discussed in Portugal, where José Pedro Márquez, a sports health physician who has worked with youth teams since 2015, was a guest on a Portuguese Football Federation podcast on the topic in 2021. The big question is: Can it cause Capes dementia long term?
“Studies say there’s a link between playing soccer and a greater likelihood of developing dementia. They don’t prove causation, just association. They can’t prove cause and effect, especially since there are a series of factors that can confound that association,” he began by saying. Explaining how to prove this causation:
“We will have to take a large number of players and follow this population from the beginning of their career until they are 60 or 70 years old. We will count the headers made by each of them and see, at the end of their career, a systematic registry of dementia, we will analyze this data,” he explained. “And if we see that players who made more headers had more dementia than others who played fewer, then yes, we would have reliable evidence of a causal relationship.”
UEFA recommendations
The European Union is also working to prevent the development of the disease, and has therefore sent a list of recommendations for preventing concussions to the federations. Get to know them:
1. The appropriate sized balls should be used for each level.
two. These balls should have minimal pressure.
3. Reducing exercises that contain vertical strikes, especially at youth levels.
4. Do some exercises to strengthen your neck muscles.
5. Educating sports officials about the signs and symptoms and how to react in the event of a concussion.
Signs of concussion
Asking simple questions is the first step if a concussion is suspected. “Ask about the result of the match or the name of the athlete, for example. Furthermore, you have to pay attention to possible confusions in time and place, misalignments, and changes in vision or hearing. When you wake up, it is important to notice if there is Dizziness or headache.
North American example
Contrary to what many may think, this procedure has been in place since 2014 in the United States. In that year, the United States Federation was forced to change the rules of the games, after a lawsuit filed by players and their parents against FIFA, the North American Football Confederation, and the United States Youth Soccer Organization.
In this process, the complainants pointed the finger at these three organizations, highlighting that they were negligent in neglecting to highlight the impact of this artistic gesture, and demanding that the number of times players under 17 years of age head the ball be determined.
Thus, an official ruling was issued in November 2015, signed by the American Federation, preventing players under the age of 10 from heading the ball. As for players between the ages of 11 and 13, their artistic gestures are limited.
Later, on January 1, 2016, the same body decided that this rule would be applied to all youth teams and academies in Major League Soccer.
When a player intentionally heads the ball in a match, an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team at the site of the violation.
Finally, the North American regulations also state that if a player is suspected of sustaining a head injury, he or she must be substituted immediately for medical evaluation, without such substitution counting towards the substitution cap. Basically, changing this player is not included in the number of allowed changes.
Words from the experts
In general, we are facing a problem that has been addressed periodically for more than 20 years. Could this limitation have consequences? John McClean, the former Scottish national team medical officer, was part of the study group that approved the measure banning children. He stresses that although there is no specific evidence, precaution is always the best medicine.
“We cannot wait for evidence, because it takes a long time to evaluate it. We have to take sensitive and practical steps, in order to reduce the overall size of the problem. If young people already have this limitation, they will.” “Be able to develop differently in terms of potential neurological damage,” he began.
He concluded: “This is not a case where the person who heads the ball later develops dementia. Children should not even be heading the ball. This is not a positive thing for their development.”
Strategic and tactical aspect
Naturally, health comes first, but it will always be difficult to implement more stringent measures, since headers are an important technical gesture during a football match. Just remember set pieces, such as indirect free kicks and corner kicks. The limitations imposed on children cause them to learn to play a game different from the one they will encounter at older ages. All of these issues need to be addressed by regulatory bodies, but it is difficult to get to the top of this mountain.
