BOSTON (AP) — The union representing British soccer players on Tuesday will unveil the first comprehensive steps to prevent the brain disease CTE, extending growing concerns about concussions to the damage that can be caused by less powerful hits when heading the ball.
Guidelines from the Professional Footballers’ Association, which represents current and former players in the Premier League, FA Women’s Super League and English Football League, recommend that professional players head the ball no more than 10 times a week, including training. The PFA said children under the age of 12 should not be heading the ball, as part of the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Prevention Protocol, which aims to reduce head impacts throughout a player’s life.
“CTE is preventable, of course it is,” PFA Director of Brain Health Dr. Adam White said Monday at the first-ever Global CTE Summit held in San Francisco while the NFL arrived in the Bay Area for Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“Less heading, less force, less frequency, and that’s the principle that becomes important later in life,” White told The Associated Press. “These can apply to any sport and are our best hope for preventing current and future athletes from suffering the same fate as previous generations.”
Speakers at the summit included academics, former athletes, and members of Congress. The virtual and in-person audiences included families who have witnessed the dangers of CTE, which can cause memory loss, depression, severe mood swings, and other cognitive and behavioral problems.
“This may be the world’s most underreported public health challenge today,” said former US Surgeon General Richard Carmona. “Preventing CTE takes courage: courage to change tradition, courage to stand against denial, and courage to prioritize long-term health over short-term gain.”
The degenerative brain disease now known as CTE was studied in boxers more than a century ago as punch-drunk syndrome, and was first diagnosed in an American football player in 2005. ice hockey, soccer and Other contact sports And even among combat veterans and people who have been repeatedly hit in the head.
A 2017 study found that 110 out of 111 brains had CTE. Donated by former NFL players. The disease can only be identified by post-mortem examination of the brain.
NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp, speaking about an hour away from Levi’s Stadium on the day of the much-hyped opening night of the Super Bowl, said the focus shouldn’t just be on professionals who at least receive compensation and can make informed decisions about the risks of playing dangerous sports.
“It’s our duty to make the game better,” he said. “It’s how we apply it to our children and the age at which we give it to them.”
The NFL, college football and many other sports have protocols in place to guide teams and players in returning to play after sustaining a concussion.
But Chris Nowinski, founder of the Concussion and CTE Foundation, says a copy of the British soccer protocol obtained by The Associated Press is the first comprehensive plan to combat CTE by addressing common, less dramatic concussive blows.
“For contact sports, CTE prevention protocols are just as important as concussion protocols, and perhaps even more so,” he said.
Among the recent concerns are routine head hits from soccer linemen and from soccer players heading toward the ball. A study funded by the association and the Football Association found that Scottish professional players were 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia than the general population. Study of the brains of British soccer players The majority, including Jeff Astle, Gordon McQueen and Chris Nicholl, were found to have had CTE.
“Given what we know today about this disease, it would be a failure for our players not to do anything,” White said in a statement. “The science and the solutions are clear. We need a willingness from sporting bodies to put the long-term health of their athletes first. We are pleased to see that in England. We encourage all sports to put as much emphasis, if not more, on CTE prevention protocols as concussion protocols.”
The protocol also includes annual education, research support and care for former athletes suspected of living with CTE. This follows the publication of the CTE Prevention Framework in 2023 by researchers brought together by the Concussion and CTE Foundation and the Boston University CTE Center.
Nowinski called on sports leagues and their medical advisors to adopt CTE prevention protocols.
“There is now overwhelming evidence that as sports involve more head impacts, more athletes will develop CTE,” Nowinski said. “Sports administrators are not putting themselves at risk for CTE, but the policies they have put in place are condemning some athletes to a life with CTE, a burden that falls primarily on spouses and children. Enough is enough.”
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