A British lawmaker has called for legal restrictions on repetitive heading during soccer training amid growing concerns about the risk of brain damage among players.
According to the BBC, Labour Party lawmaker Grahame Morris submitted an early day motion (EDM) on Tuesday urging the government to take measures to reduce the number of headers players perform during training.
In the motion, Morris described protecting players‘ brain health as a "major public health and player welfare issue."
The motion calls on the government to introduce legal limits on repetitive heading in training, recognize chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as a public health issue, develop a national action plan to protect players' brain health and strengthen education on the risks of heading through school physical education programs.
A 2019 study by the University of Glasgow found that professional soccer players were 3.5 times more likely to die from neurodegenerative diseases than the general population.
England‘s Football Association (FA) has already been phasing in a ban on deliberate heading in matches involving children under 12 since 2022.
The FA has also recommended limiting heading to no more than 10 times per week in amateur training and advised professional clubs to restrict high-force headers in training to 10 per week.
Scotland has gone a step further, banning heading in professional training sessions on the day before and the day after matches.
Earlier investigations into the deaths of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles and former Scotland defender Gordon McQueen concluded that repetitive heading had contributed to their deaths.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and the Premier League established a brain health fund in 2023, providing approximately 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) annually.
However, advocacy groups argue that the funding is insufficient to cover the cost of care for affected former players.
Although the FA has not contributed financially to the fund, it says it continues to invest in research and has issued guidelines across professional and amateur soccer.
"The link between heading and long-term brain health remains an area of ongoing scientific and medical research, but we have consistently been at the forefront of efforts to make the game safer," an FA spokesperson said.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
