The English Premier League has a CTE problem

Since the onset of the NFL’s foot-dragging inquest into the proliferation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), some progress has been made regarding the long-term effects of the disease on players. While there are a lot of moving parts to their investigation, other sports have been far too deliberate in recognizing the link between the brain and head-related injuries. Witness the case of English football and their retired players.

Through the 1970s, the football itself was constructed of a heavy leather material, which was further weighted by the often-damp conditions that exist in England.  Since heading the ball is a major part of the game, there were daily drills that were developed to enhance a player’s heading techniques. Like any other soft tissue, repetitive usage of this area of the brain eventually caused long-term and permanent damage to many of the players. While the football is now made of a lighter material, it is not uncommon to see players taken off the field briefly after a collision on the pitch for what currently passes as a “concussion protocol”.

While the game continues to be the most popular sport in the world, the England Football Association seems to be struggling to confront the past but has begun an investigation into long-term causes and effects of football and CTE. The Football Association has commissioned a study into degenerative brain disease among former players. This study began in 2014 and is slated to take ten years to complete. In the meantime, however, another generation of footballers will have been misdiagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer’s disease while receiving no financial or emotional resources to make their suffering (and that of their families) a little bit more tolerable.

In fact, much of the current research being conducted by the FA is a result of the public grassroots efforts by the family of a former player who was only diagnosed with CTE after it was too late to help him.  Justice for Jeff was founded as a result of the death of former West Brom striker Jeff Astle, who died at age 59 from what was originally diagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease but was later found to have been CTE. Since the formation of Justice for Jeff, at least 250 other former footballers have been found to have suffered from CTE, and many more are believed to have succumbed to the disease without proper diagnosis.

Astle’s daughter, Dawn, has been raising awareness of the issue while providing a support group for the affected families through her organization. Aside from trying to provide relief for former players and their families, she is asking that a more robust concussion protocol be instituted in order to limit future CTE issues amongst the current and future players.

While injuries are a part of the game and impossible to eliminate altogether, it would seem that the English FA could do more for their past players while raising the bar currently for a proper concussion protocol. With medical staff available on the field (at least at the higher levels of the game), quick action on a players’ behalf should be implemented as soon as possible. Ten years is an awfully long time to wait for a team to protect its players.