In 2015, a group of parents filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation. The lawsuit stemmed from young players enduring head injuries due to heading the football. In the wake of the lawsuit, the USSF instituted a number of rules that would prevent head injuries – or at least it hope.
What rules did the USSF institute?
One of the rules laid out by the USSF is a limit to heading the ball for young players. Players at the under-10 level are not allowed to head balls in training or in matches. For players between the under-11 and under-13 levels, the players are only allowed a certain number of headers during training sessions.
The idea behind the rules is that players will suffer fewer head injuries from a young age and hopefully prevent any long-term damage.
The lawsuit filed against the USSF was one of the many that have gone after American sports leagues in the last decade. The NFL, NHL, NCAA and even the WWE have fought lawsuits over head injuries. The good news for the USSF was the lawsuit only asked for the organisation to implement new rules rather than any financial compensation.
Rules catching on in Europe
According to a Guardian article from March 2018, UEFA is preparing a study on head injuries. Depending on the results, UEFA may adopt the same rules the USSF has already implemented.
There are those that feel the age groups in which the ban has been implemented is arbitrary. Headway, a United Kingdom head trauma charity, want research to be conducted immediately on young footballers suffering brain damage. The group want to make sure the right age groups are covered and random ages aren’t just set – which is what some have argued.
For now, the US is the only country with a ban on heading the football. However, there are executives in the USSF that believe other football associations will adopt the same rules. England’s Football Association has begun a study of head injuries and heading the ball. However, it will take until 2021 until the results will be published.
Do you think youth football players should be banned from heading the ball?