UK kids banned from heading ball in football practice
Baku, February 27, AZERTAC
A heading ban in football training for children up to the end of primary school has been introduced with immediate effect in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, according to MailOnline.
The three football associations issued a statement on Monday morning confirming changes to their heading guidance, which come in the wake of the FIELD study which showed former footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population.
The changes stated there would be no heading at all in the 'foundation phase' - primary school children - and a graduated approach to heading in training in Under-12s to Under-16s football.
There will be no change in terms of heading in matches, taking into consideration the extremely limited number of headers which actually occur in youth games.
The 22-month 'FIELD study', conducted by the University of Glasgow's brain injury group, also found a five-fold increase in the risk of Alzheimer's, a four-fold increase in motor neurone disease and a two-fold increase in Parkinson's.
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