Study reveals former footballers more likely to suffer from dementia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Jun 2023 22:49

The Football Association has received backlash from activists for its lack of support to former football players who are now suffering from neurocognitive disease.

England's John Stones vies for the ball with Christian Pulisic of the United States, right, during the World Cup group B soccer match between England and The United States, at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor , Qatar, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 (AP)

Results from a study conducted by the University of Nottingham revealed that former professional footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to suffer from dementia than the general population.

The study, commissioned by the English Football Association (FA) and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), confirmed previous research that former footballers may be more prone to be diagnosed with some form of neurocognitive disease.

According to the study, 2.8 percent of retired professional footballers reported medically diagnosed dementia and other neurodegenerative disease in comparison to 0.9 percent of the general population.

Dr. Charlotte Cowie, the FA's head of medicine, said: "The FOCUS study worked with an established group of former professional footballers that were participating in research and was able to review their brain health, and it supports the previous findings in the FIELD study which suggest an increased risk for neurodegenerative disease in former professional footballers than in the general population."

"This is an extremely complex area of our game, but we are committed to working collectively with our stakeholders to help grow our knowledge in this area through further medical and expert analysis."

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The Football Association has received backlash from activists for its lack of support for former football players who are now suffering from neurocognitive disease.

Despite this, the Association said it introduced specific guidelines pertaining to dealing with concussions and related injuries by restricting heading practice in training and banning deliberate headers from the under-12s level.

"The FA has led the way in taking steps to help reduce potential risk factors within the game (including) establishing industry-leading concussion guidelines," the FA said in a statement.

Since the US National Football League paid a $1 billion settlement in 2015 to resolve thousands of lawsuits by former players suffering from neurological problems, awareness about the implications of concussion in sports has grown considerably.

Several sports around the world, including football, rugby union, rugby league, and cricket have since then sought to bolster their concussion protocols.