Awareness of the long-term danger posed by the practice of certain sports where head impacts are frequent now extends to Australian rules football. Like former rugby players before him, in particular, Max Rooke, ex-star of this king sport in Australia, launched a “historic” collective action against the National League (AFL) on Tuesday for concussions suffered, according to him, while he was playing. More than 60 former players have come forward to join.
Max Rooke, now 41, played 135 games for the Geelong club before retiring in 2010. He was one of the best-known players in the sport of rugby, football, volleyball and handball. ball, whose championship final is usually played in front of more than 100,000 spectators each year in Melbourne. Rooke has filed a class action lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Melbourne, alleging he suffered “permanent life-altering concussion-related injuries caused by the negligence of the AFL”, said his lawyer, Michel Margalit, in a press release.
Former players are said to suffer from long-term damage, including neurological disorders such as traumatic brain injury and dementia. “The injuries suffered by this group of former AFL players have had a devastating impact on their lives and those of their loved ones,” said Michel Margalit. Some of the players who joined this historic class action were never able to keep a job after leaving the AFL. »
The attorney added that a similar class action lawsuit filed in the United States by former NFL football players resulted in an initial payout of more than $1 billion. There is also a similar legal action underway in rugby, with 275 former players seeking compensation for brain damage, including 2003 World Cup winner Steve Thompson with England and former England captain Ryan Jones. Wales.