Suspected dementia: football without a header? | tagesschau.de

Dementation through headballs – a study establishes this connection. In Great Britain they are already partially banned for young kickers. But does football work without it? A first attempt provoked different reactions.

The first long ball after kick-off and the defender clears his head. The referee’s whistle shrills through the stadium: free kick for the opponent. Players have to get used to it. Head is like hand – forbidden.

Local greats and former pros play against each other in Spennymoor in the north of England. A friendly game, but it’s not a fun event. It is a serious test. The initiator, Judith Gates, gave many interviews before the game. She would have loved to have her husband, a former soccer player, do the same. But he can no longer do that – he suffers from dementia.

And that’s what football is to blame, Gates believes. Her husband Bill beheaded a lot as an active person. Sometimes he’s down after a dogfight. When the skull throbbed, there was smelling salts, and on it went. “Today he pays a high price. He can’t even shave himself anymore. It’s like life is pulling out of his body,” says Judith Gates. And the danger exists for countless footballers, even today.

Fit flat and wait

Bill kicked off the game. He kicks the ball off the point. As he leaves the field, the players applaud. Heading in the penalty area is still allowed in the first half, and completely forbidden in the second. There is a lot of flat play. Short corners. With long balls, players have to wait for the ball to hit the ground.

Judith Gates watches the action on the side. There are also 390 fans in the stadium, and the experiment has generated quite a lot of interest. Judith Gates wants to prove that football is possible without a header game.

Noticeable accumulation

In England the discussion about the danger of headers has long since started. Five players from the legendary English world championship team from 1966 suffered from dementia and four died. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence.

In a study of 8,000 former Scottish footballers, the University of Glasgow examined the link between headers and possible health consequences. She found that footballers are 3.45 times more likely to develop dementia than the general population. In Alzheimer’s disease even 4.4 times higher.

Other training rules

This is not proof that headers are responsible for these diseases or can trigger them. Nevertheless, the English football association reacts. He banned header training for children under the age of twelve. Exercises should be reduced “as far as possible” for the older age groups.

There is even a limit in training for professional footballers. You shouldn’t do more than ten headers a week, which are harder in nature. Means: Balls that are hit from a distance of more than 35 meters should be allowed to fly.

More shots from a distance

In Spennymoor, Judith Gates is concerned with the next step; about banning headers from the game. Goals are scored, even with their heads in the penalty area in the first half. There are more long-range shots in the second round. Three end up in the mesh.

In the stands, the game is thought to be entertaining, but also different. The dogfights are missing. Some can not imagine this form for a league game – “especially not in the Premier League,” says one viewer, in other words in the English premier league.

With others, however, it also rattles in the head. Another viewer says it is something that has to be thought through for the future. Especially in view of the studies that there might be a connection with dementia.

A question of getting used to it early?

There are also initial ideas. “If children don’t learn it differently, it may soon be the norm,” says one whose children came to play with them. But then other countries would have to join in.

Judith Gates is realistic enough that football cannot be changed overnight. She wants a game that doesn’t lose its beauty, but protects the players.

After 90 minutes she claims to have seen this in her experiment. It is important to her that people discuss what is possible. In fact, however, it has nothing less than to revolutionize the foundations of football. She does it for her husband. Because he can no longer fight the fight himself.