UK Edition
Doctors dismayed as International FA Board snubs 'concussion bins'
Doctors have reacted with dismay to confirmation that concussion substitutes will not be introduced in football until 2020 at the earliest.
Premier League doctors, as well as Fifpro, the world players’ union, have been pushing for the introduction of “concussion bins”, similar to head injury assessments used in rugby, which allow doctors 10 minutes to assess an injury away from the pitch.
This would require a formal change to the Laws of the Game in football and, while it is said to be on the International Football Association Board’s “radar”, the change has not even made the agenda for next month’s annual general meeting.
It is understood Ifab is waiting for medical studies to be completed before making a decision, even though there now appears to be broad consensus among medics that the three-minute assessment window that was brought in before last summer’s World Cup is insufficient.
“There’s wide agreement in the medical literature and among medical professionals who routinely do these assessments that a short period of time, such as exists now, is not enough to make a proper assessment,” said Dr Michael Grey, a neuroscientist at the University of East Anglia.
“It happens all the time that people have a delayed onset of symptoms. If you suspect a player has a concussion, that player should be removed from the pitch immediately and not returned until properly assessed. I don’t think anyone would argue that proper assessment could be done within a few minutes.”
Dr Willie Stewart, who is currently researching the prevalence of dementia among former footballers, has said that it is “unacceptable” that football still does not allow significant time for an assessment to take place.
There were a series of worrying incidents at last summer’s World Cup when even Fifa’s existing protocol – that play should stop for three minutes to assess head injuries and a minimum five-day rest following a concussion – were not routinely enforced.
Michel D’Hooghe, the chairman of Fifa’s medical committee, implied managers would exploit concussion substitutes for tactical reasons when he outlined his opposition to the idea. “I hope you don’t believe that this would be used rightly every time,” he said.
Although it is accepted concussions substitutes would need careful enforcement, doctors are naturally adamant that player welfare should come before how teams might be tempted to use a new rule to effectively cheat.
Dr Grey does believe football has taken significant steps forward in its concussion protocols over the past decade, but is also advocating the introduction of a formal process that would allow players who have been initially assessed to be checked. A key concern is the potential devastating impact of what is known as second-impact syndrome, when a second concussion follows soon after the first.
With football still unwilling seriously to consider concussions substitutes, researchers are trying to improve immediate recognition. Led by Prof Tony Belli, researchers at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust have been gathering saliva and urine samples in an attempt to discover biomarkers that would instantly identify concussions. Dr Grey has also been trialling a virtual reality headset to help quickly establish whether a player is concussed.