Whats peoples thoughts on this?, i saw a doctor on the news yesterday that wanted heading of the ball banned, personally i think we could be setting a very ominous precedent for the future of contact sport, surely if we are to ban heading of a ball, we also have to look at both codes of rugby , where they actually lead with their heads, are we going to make boxing body shots only, UCF, martial arts, i think its very concerning for sport..I know that many people are going to say that peoples health has to come first and they would be correct obviously, but how many footballers over the years have had long careers and haven,t got dimentia?
They haven't banned boxing, or even suggested it becomes judged on points for body blows to my mind? My relatives with dementia never had head trauma as far as I'm aware . Definitely no harm in limiting the amount of heading in training and not introducing it for children but I'm of the opinion everything carries some risk when it comes to professional sport .
Life carries risks. In january this year I had a cycling accident resulting in a cracked skull, separated shoulder and a few broken ribs. I still get out cycling most days - I've just passed 2,600 miles for the year. As for football, as long as the players know and understand the risks and are prepared to accept them for the sometimes huge incomes they can get, I can't see a problem. The players union and all of the football authorities should get together to provide for the care for any players affected. It will be interesting to see how the rugby legal case pans out.
American Football is by far the worst, there’s a lot of research into CTE over there and some of the findings are truly harrowing. There needs to at the very least be similar research done here.
The players know what they are getting into when they go into the sport. If they are that worried about the risks then they shouldn't play the game. Hundreds and hundreds of players have retired from the game without developing Dementia in later life. Those that have I feel so sorry for as I have seen first hand the effects of this but to ban heading while keeping other sports unchanged like boxing, MMA, rugby etc would just be ludicrous
Let's put things in perspective. Football is optional. It's Sport. If you're worried about suffering from dementia in later life don't play a sport that involves heading the ball. The world's going soft.
This is an issue that must be looked into in order to quantify and minimise if not eliminate the risks involved. One thing that may help today is that modern footballs are much lighter than in the days of Stiles and Astle at the start and will not grab moisture like the leather ones of yesteryear would during games.
Listening to Talksport yesterday and they did a segment on the subject. Nobby Stiles son was on and spoke brilliantly. Regards to heading, They had a Liverpool coach on and they've already banned heading in their academy apart from matchday.
Let's adopt 5-aside rules for the 11-aside game. At least we won't have to suffer any more soul destroying head tennis.
Volenti non fit injuria. This is a common law legal doctrine which states that if someone willingly places themselves in a position where harm might result, they are not able to bring a claim against another party in tort. Perhaps the premier league and the players should divert a proportion of their riches into researching the impact of heading the ball and heads coming together and the increasing frequency of elbows into heads and faces. On that latter point I do not recall players in the 60s and 70s needing them to use their elbows so much in jumping to head the ball. Many of these incidents go unpunished.
