It’s common sense, we are taught it from a young age that a head injury is serious. Your mum always tells you that after a blow to the head you should not try to fall asleep. It’s this advice that takes us through into life as adults, so why don’t professional athletes live by the same rules?
Most sports already have rules in place to stop any form of injury to their competitors, even professional wrestling forces their superstars to pass a vigorous medical assessment after they have suffered a concussion and before they can return to competition.
Rugby adheres to the same sort of rules stating that “Any player suspected or recognised with concussion must be removed from training and playing and not return to Rugby or other sport or physical activity on the same day.”
Even the NFL made new rules as regards to helmets and head safety last year to make sure their players are as safe as they could be out on the pitch.
Why doesn’t football comply to the same head injury rules?
We all remember the Hugo Lloris incident towards the end of last year when he collided head first with the knee of Romelu Lukaku, the FA were then inundated with requests from health and medical organisations to make a new rule in football that if a player loses consciousness at any point in the match he should be forced to leave the game and not return until they have been evaluated.
Goalkeepers are usually the most at risk parties, Stoke City’s Thomas Sorensen needed twelve stitches in his face a few years ago when he clattered with Tottenham defender Alan Hutton and was left bloody and still has a scar to remind him of that fateful day.
Just last night we saw Uruguay’s Alvaro Pereira was kneed in the face by Raheem Sterling and after lying motionless on the ground for a few seconds, he was finally up on his feet and arguing with the medical staff to allow him back on, despite the fact that they already had his substitute lined up.
The midfielder got the better of the argument and continued the game which saw his side walk out 2-1 winners and a step closer to qualifying for the World Cup knock out stages, but how different could that situation have been?
Yes he’s an adult, but he’s a passionate, competitive adult that in the heat of the moment shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions that possibly risk his life, he is a human being after all and no matter how much he felt like Superman he needed to be told that he was only human and he should have been checked out. Some might also say that a head injury could effect his judgement at the time.
Head injuries take many forms and don’t fully react until hours after and sadly, can be fatal. Footballers either need to be taught about their severity or they need to have the opportunity to argue taken out of their hands.
We all saw what happened to Fabrice Muamba because there weren’t mandatory heart checks for professional footballers, do we need a serious injury before the FA and FIFA will react and make it an official rule?
It doesn’t need to go that far. It’s a simple rule that could potentially save lives, why hasn’t it been made official yet?
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