Heading The Ball: Part Of The Game Or An Industrial Disease

• Published date: 23 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Personal Injury, Professional Negligence, Sport
• Law Firm: Deka Chambers
• Author: Ian Stebbings

With news hot off the press on Friday 11^th November 2022 that thirty former professional footballer players intend to send a Letter of Claim to the Football Association, The Welsh FA and IFAB alleging negligence that heading of the football has caused dementia and other neurogenerative injuries, it may be worth reviewing the legal niceties of a problem that was highlighted by Ian Stebbings two years ago.

Since then however much has changed including an FA trial within some grassroots leagues whereby heading was banned for those playing at under 12 level and below with an indirect resulting if the header was 'intentional'. The outcome of that trial and whether such 'laws' would be extended to all grassroots under 12s remains to be seen.

The diagnosis at the beginning of November 2020 of Sir Bobby Charlton with dementia follows on from four other members of the 1966 World Cup starting 11 also being diagnosed with the same disease. Martin Peters, Nobby Stiles, Ray Wilson and Jack Charlton have all died suffering the disease. It brings into stark focus that nearly 50% of an 11-man team have suffered the same disease. Further recent diagnosis of ex professionals with the same disease include ex England captain Dave Watson, and it has recently been discovered that more than half of the Burnley FC championship winning team from the 1959/60 season have died from or are suffering with dementia. Whilst dementia occurs in the general populace it is now being dubbed the 'footballers disease' by the media and there are calls for it to be recognised as an industrial disease. The repeated heading of a football has, it would appear, adversely affected both the England World Cup winning squad and the Championship winning team from Burnley; the obvious question is how many more footballers has this affected.

The recognition of dementia as an industrial disease whilst likely to be simplistic, presents its own difficulties when it comes to litigation. The condition has to be verified by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. The Council previously considered Neurodegenerative diseases in professional sportspersons in 2005 but there was insufficient evidence to warrant prescription to any group of sports persons. A more recent call to evidence closed in June 2014 but no prescription is again forthcoming. The disease has however already been cited as a 'cause of death' on a death certificate, when in 2002 the death of former West Bromwich Albion and England footballer Jeff Astell was recorded as being due to Dementia and upon revision of the certificate it was recorded as an industrial disease which had been caused by football. More recently in May 2020 the coroner at the inquest into the death of ex Welsh International Alan Jarvis recorded that his disease could be linked to the heading of a football and concluded that his death from Alzheimer's was "caused by his occupation as a footballer, heading heavy footballs".

The repeated heading of a football in the days when the ball was much heavier seems to have disproportionally affected footballers and it is not unreasonable to conclude that it is linked with the activity. No full studies have yet been...