A British coroner court ruled last week that England 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died from a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football, confirming the potential health risks increasingly becoming associated with ball sports, reports IOL.
The landmark ruling also prompted the coroner to issue a formal Prevention of Future Deaths report regarding heading in schools and football.
Stiles, a former Manchester United midfielder, who died almost six years ago aged 78 with severe dementia, had headed a football around 140 000 times during his career, Stockport Coroner's Court in England heard at the inquest into his death.
Expert analysis of his brain showed his severe dementia was as a result of Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been associated with head trauma from heading a ball.
Neuro-pathology expert Dr Daniel du Plessis told the court: “I’m quite convinced his heading the football that many times caused his CTE.”
Norbert “Nobby” Stiles was capped 28 times by England and played nearly 400 times for Manchester United, with his son John having previously said that football “killed” his father.
He estimated that his father had headed the ball around 40 times a day for five days a week, over a career in the game stretching to 17 years, calculating a “conservative” tally of 136 000 headers in total.
Back when his father played, said his son, footballs weighed around 453g, and were heavier when wet. Studies have shown that heading even a modern ball, which no longer absorbs water, is equivalent to around 80% of the impact of a boxer’s punch.
John Stiles is among dozens of former footballers and their families suing England’s governing Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the English Football League over claims they were “negligent and in breach of their duty of care” to the former players.
Lawyers have previously said the sport’s authorities knew or should have known that repeatedly heading a ball in training and during matches was likely to cause brain injuries, and that the risks were known for decades.
But in March this year the legal team for the Football Association told the High Court it has “not been established by science” that heading a ball or “occasional” concussion can lead to permanent brain damage.
The FA is currently phasing out all heading in youth football up to Under-11 level.
IOL article – Court rules England World Cup winner died from brain injury linked to heading
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Evidence of brain damage in soccer players – small UK study
UK players lobby for soccer bodies to pay brain injury costs
Later link of repetitive head impacts to depression and cognition