FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “[Football] brings people together like nothing else and the FIFA World Cup will be a celebration of that unity and passion for the game we love so much.”
Think about it, what other sport brings together the most unexpected people spanning celebrities to your local grocer, your grandmother and your dentist? Football, or soccer if you are in the States like us.
International icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with the help of others, helped to launch the Football Unites the World campaign in 2022, which showcased soccer’s unrivalled ability to bring people together. The videos highlight the hope, joy and passion of the most globally adored sport.
But the game that won over the world continues to come with a larger risk than reward.
What is the only sport where the head is unprotected, acting as a point of contact for a ball that can sometimes fly between 60-80mph? Soccer. While it’s not thought of to be a high-impact sport, the nature of the game is what makes it dangerous. In other contact sports, the effects of repetitive traumatic brain injury are well recognized; however, in soccer players, repeated blows to the head are debatable.
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What is CTE?
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. It was originally called, “fistfighter’s dementia,” “boxer’s madness” or “punch drunk syndrome,” due to its prevalence in striking-based sports, such as boxing, but whatever the name, one thing is for certain, the condition is pervasive in soccer, where heading the ball is common, causing sustained head injuries.
Other risk factors for CTE include athletics involving contact sports, military personnel who are exposed to combat, domestic violence survivors and law enforcement.
CTE can lead to psychological issues, sleep disturbances and cognitive dysfunction. If the disease continues to worsen, dementia can develop over time.
Studies on Neurological Trauma
A new study at Columbia was the first to demonstrate that the brain structure changes over the course of two years and the neurological trauma continues, it’s not simply “at the time of” type injury. These findings are concerning as it further proves that those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury in and outside of sports, are at a higher risk for neurodegeneration disease later in life. According to Michael Lipton, MD, PhD professor of radiology at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and affiliate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University, “Soccer players and their parents have been rightly warned about the potential risks of heading in soccer, but it leads to mixed messages about the wisdom of playing the sport,” says Lipton. “This grant will allow us to determine soccer’s tradeoffs with respect to brain health so that people can make informed decisions, and we can establish evidence-based guidelines for heading.”
Statistics
Head injuries such as concussions represent 22% of all injuries sustained and players are 4 times more likely to become injured during matches as opposed to training. Levelling up within the sport only serves to increase the rate of head injury due to higher speeds and higher impact.
Impact of TBI on Olympic Athlete
Take the case of two-time Olympian Brianna Scurry—a few seconds is all it took for her career to be cut short. In 2010, a player’s knee from the opposing team’s collided with her skull, it was last game she ever played professionally as she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
Her TBI rendered her unable to work due to excruciating headaches, cognitive issues, and depression. To add insult to injury, the solution to her problem was surgery that would repair the nerve responsible for causing all her symptoms. However, her insurance company refused to cover it—remember those gold medals? She had to pawn them to survive.
And just like that, something amazing happened.
Courts had already found the insurance liable, yet it was her legal team that put pressure on the insurance company, holding them responsible. After all, she was famous and if the press caught wind of the situation, it was not going to look good. The pressure worked and she was not only able to settle but she received approval from them for her surgery AND her gold medals were returned.
Overcoming the Disparities
Although, her story has a positive ending, Scurry, emphasized that brain injuries are difficult to discuss out loud because there can be shame, fear and confusion linked to sharing. She also says that women, in particular, may hold back to avoid being seen as weak, vulnerable or “hysterical,” and it does not help that most of the research around CTE and similar conditions has focused on American football, as opposed to soccer and not much is known about how brain injuries might impact girls and women differently.
This disparity is currently being studied at Boston University, where they hope to shed light on the consequences of repetitive head injury facing female soccer players at a high skill level. (They are currently enrolling for certain clinical trials pertaining to injuries sustained from soccer.)
Choose your Legal Team
Not everyone is lucky, as not everyone is a famous soccer player. And while the impact of sports is beneficial overall, one cannot disregard the associated risks that arises when playing. That is why it is imperative to protect not only your body, but your wellbeing. You can start by choosing your legal team wisely in the event of an injury. Do not succumb to bullying tactics insurance companies use by accepting the first offer or giving up after they flat out deny your claim. No matter how you received your brain injury, insurance companies rarely favor the injured and YOU matter.
Contact us today for more information and the help you deserve.
