The injury sustained last night by France defender Benjamin Pavard and the way it was dealt with was “sickening to watch”, with calls for urgent action to be taken to protect players from such a situation repeating.
Pavard was injured in the Euro 2021 match with Germany, when he collided with Germany’s Robin Gosens. Pavard hit the ground without his arms protecting him from the fall and later admitted he was ‘a little knocked out for ten, 15 seconds’.
Despite this, the player was allowed to continue after receiving on-pitch medical attention for less than three minutes – a decision labelled by brain injury charity Headway as “disturbing”.
While the Premiership last season became the first football competition in the world to trial the use of concussion substitutes – although its premise of permanent rather than temporary replacements has prompted widespread calls for it to go further – no such measures are in place during the Euros.
In the wake of Pavard’s injury last night, with football fans around the world fearing for the player’s welfare during the incident, Headway has called for urgent action to be taken to ensure such a situation does not occur again.
“This is another example of football authorities failing to protect the short and long term health of a player,” says Peter McCabe, chief executive of Headway.
“It was plain for all to see that Pavard was unable to protect himself from the fall. Pavard’s later statement that he lost consciousness confirms the seriousness of the incident.
“We have continuously been told that football’s concussion protocols are fit for purpose and that temporary concussion substitutes are not necessary. But here we have yet another example where it is simply not credible to suggest that a concussion could not be ‘suspected’ or a possible consequence of the impact. However, after a brief on-pitch assessment the player was allowed to continue.
“Furthermore, it appeared that the referee was attempting to speed up the medical team and usher them and the player off the pitch, rather than allowing them the time they needed to assess the seriousness of the injury.
“Why is it so hard for football to accept it has got this wrong and follow the example set by other sports by introducing temporary concussion substitutes?
“The way this incident was handled was sickening to watch. UEFA has to come out and immediately explain how it was allowed to happen and what action it will now take to ensure something similar does not occur in the future.”
