Football’s law-makers urged to introduce temporary concussion substitutions

An open letter calling for the introduction of temporary concussion substitutions has been written to the International Football Association Board as key figures insisted the current protocols were not working.

Members of IFAB will meet in Doha on Monday for its 136th annual general meeting and concussion substitutes will be among a number of topics on the agenda.

In December 2020 IFAB invited competitions to take part in a trial of permanent concussion substitutions, which the Premier League agreed to months later.

While it was viewed as a step forward in the sport’s battle against neurogenerative disease, the option to temporarily replace players while they undergo a head injury assessment is still unavailable.

Key figures from the Professional Footballers’ Association, Jeff Astle Foundation, the Concussion Legacy Foundation and brain injury association Headway have now signed an open letter urging IFAB to go further.

Dawn Astle, daughter of former England international Jeff, who died in 2002 with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and co-founder of the Jeff Astle Foundation, said: “Put simply, the current rules by IFAB are not working and players are being put at risk.

“This is completely unacceptable. Too often we are seeing players assessed for a complex brain injury on the field of play, with the noise and intensity of a football stadium, and continuing the game only for them to be replaced later on. This demonstrates that the current guidelines are failing to prioritise player safety. Change is long overdue.”

As the representative voice of professional players in England, we have been clear that we want to see the immediate introduction of temporary concussion substitutes- PFA chief executive Maheta Molango

P