Football has suffered ‘further damage to its credibility when it comes to brain injury’ after proposals to introduce temporary concussion substitutes into the game were rejected.
Three top-class football leagues – the Premier League, Ligue 1 in France and MLS in the United States – had devised plans to trial the introduction of temporary substitutes next season in the case of head injury on the pitch, giving time for proper assessment of a possible concussion away from the pitch.
The move has long been called for by prominent academics, medics, charities and high-profile names in football – including former England captain Alan Shearer – and the need to change the current protocols was again highlighted during the World Cup 2022 with incidents in England’s matches against Iran and Wales.
However, yesterday, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), voted against the proposals in its meeting yesterday, opting to continue with the current system.
The “bitterly disappointing” decision was met with anger and dismay from campaigners, who have claimed the introduction of temporary concussion substitutes is essential to protect player safety.
Luke Griggs, chief executive of brain injury charity Headway and an outspoken advocate of the need for temporary concussion substitutions, said: “It is hard to fathom the flawed logic behind this bitterly disappointing decision.
“The argument for the continuation of the current system appears to be that permanent concussion substitutes prevent injured players from returning to the pitch and therefore is a safer system, but this completely misrepresents the benefits of temporary concussion substitutes.
“Temporary subs would allow medics more time to assess a player in the quiet confines of a dressing room.
“As the symptoms of concussion can be delayed in their presentation, a ten-minute assessment will never be perfect, but it is better than giving medics the impossible job of having to make snap judgements within two or three minutes under the intense pressure and glare of tens of thousands of fans in the stadium and millions more watching at home, as is currently the case.
“Furthermore, if a player does display symptoms having returned to play after passing an off-pitch assessment, there is nothing to stop the temporary substitution being turned into a permanent one.”
He added: “We commend the Premier League and FA for making the case for temporary concussion substitutions, but all that has been achieved by this decision is to deny the application of an additional layer of protection to players and further damage football’s credibility when it comes to brain injury.”
