New study reveals link between football and dementia forcing association to ban 'heading' for children below 12
The Scottish Football Association is preparing to announce new guidelines that would ban 'heading' in training for children under the age of 12 due to former soccer players being 3.5 times more likely to die of some form of the neurogenerative diseases, claims research.
The University of Glasgow conducted the landmark research last year.
In a proactive effort, the Scottish FA is following the United States' example by becoming the first European organization to enforce restrictions on heading footballs for young children.
That said, the guidelines against heading may also be implemented as a ban during matches, aside from the amount of heading practiced in training by older children and professionals.
'Header' is a technique to tackle with one's head while passing, controlling or shooting the ball in association football.
According to the research, former professional players are twice, four times, or five times as likely to die of Parkinson's, Motor Neurone Disease, and Alzheimer’s respectively.
Dr. Willie Stewart worked with legendary footballer Jeff Astle’s daughter, Dawn to conduct the Glasgow research. They have since consistently advocated improved concussion protocols by reducing heading or banning it completely for young children. The duo has also worked to increase awareness of a care crisis among former players living with dementia.
The Glasgow research team, headed by Dr. Stewart, studied 7,676 former players born between 1900 and 1976 and has concluded there was no evidence to suggest that football is now any safer.
"We can't wait on the evidence one way or the other on heading,” said Dr. John MacLean, the Scottish FA’s medical consultant, who was also part of the research. "We need to take some sensible, pragmatic steps at the moment and that's largely going to be about trying to reduce that overall burden, the overall times that young players head - and heading in training is much more common than in matches."
"The study was never designed to, and couldn't identify, why, but I think most people would say, pragmatically that it would be head injury or heading, in whatever combination that would be," he added.
The fresh guidelines slated to be announced in Scotland could also impact England, where a Football Association research taskforce is already reviewing potential changes to training in a bid “to decrease the overall exposure to headers."
The review will explore the introduction of set limits on heading in training for everyone from full-time professionals to youth academy football players.
Initially, the FA had only pushed for improved concussion protocols, citing how infrequently young children head the ball in matches. However, they realized this could overlook the dangers during training and how unnecessary head impacts could be avoided.
While the Glasgow research did not determine the exact cause of the increased risk of neurodegenerative disease, their concerns are echoed by a growing body of research that links the same to head impact.
The University of Stirling conducted a study in 2016 and found a temporary reduction in cognitive function in footballers after just 20 headers.
In a conversation with BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland program, Gordon Smith, former chief executive of the SFA, welcomed the proposed ban and suggested young players could still be taught heading techniques safely lighter balls were used in training.
"We should be using plastic balls so that the young players could get the technique without having to head the ball," he said. "They'll be told that heading is part of the game as they come through, but they don't have to be heading the big balls immediately."
"They're better [off] using a softball so they actually develop the technique, but there's no effect on them for later days," Smith added.
That said, the United States has already banned heading for children aged 10 and under. There is also a restriction on the same for players aged between 11 and 13.
Furthermore, the Glasgow research found that former soccer players were at a marginally higher risk of neurodegenerative disease as compared to former NFL players. On the other hand, the risk of concussions from collisions was found to be higher in the NFL.
“I think that while there were many questions left unanswered by our report, I think the one thing that came through is that football needs to change in some way,” said Dr. Stewart. "We can't go on looking at a risk of three and a half times higher neurodegenerative disease in footballers and not do something about it, so this is great.”
John Hartson, a former striker for Wales, Arsenal, and Celtic, applauded the Scottish FA for taking initiative on the crucial issue.
"Heading was a massive part of my game. Managers bought me because I could head the ball," he said. "There have been some serious situations where players have lost their lives and ex-legends suffering from dementia, so I'm glad the SFA is leading the rest of football and doing something about it."