The employers’ association collaborates with AFE, FIFPRO and European Leagues to raise awareness of the six main signs
MADRID, 3 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The 42 professional football clubs that make up LaLiga Santander and SmartBank have participated in an advanced training course to increase awareness and understanding of concussions.
In collaboration with the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO) and the European Leagues, LaLiga has revealed the six main signs of a possible concussion to club doctors, who will emphasize them before the rest of their staff and before the players themselves.
Real Sociedad first team doctor Javier Barrera was selected to work with FIFPRO medical staff on this issue in January, before recently presenting the information on concussions to his colleagues from all other LaLiga Santander clubs. and LaLiga SmartBank.
Barrera stressed some key points to his fellow medical professionals. “As doctors, we need to be clear on these three things and explain them to the players as well. The first is how to detect a concussion. The second is that a player with a concussion must be removed from the field and not be allowed to re-enter. “Third is to give the player enough time to recover. We’ve seen that if we do this, the rate of recurrent concussions or persistent symptoms is much lower. In other words, letting a player play or return to action too soon can cause the rate of persistent symptoms or recurrent concussions to be higher, and there’s strong evidence for that,” he said.
In a presentation prepared by Barrera and FIFPRO, videos of official matches were used to highlight examples of the six main signs of a possible concussion, which are: remaining immobile, lack of motor coordination, abnormal posture, lack of protective acts or falls. , vacant or vacant stare, and impact seizure.
These video examples, showing the concussions suffered by Álvaro Pereira, Christoph Kramer and Nordin Amrabat at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, were sent to club doctors to share and show to their players and coaches, and LaLiga underlined the important role that players and coaches can play in helping to protect themselves as well as their teammates and opponents. If they see any of these six signs, they are encouraged to report it, following FIFPRO’s message ‘Recognize, Report, Remove’.
Geni Martínez, director of the AFE health department, pointed out that, from the union’s point of view, it is important that the players are aware and get involved. “The players can say to their teammates ‘you must leave because your health is more important than the game’. I think this is part of the challenge, informing the players and for them to be able to identify such a situation, prioritizing the health of their teammates. “, he pointed.
For this reason, LaLiga has taken several proactive measures to make the entire competition aware of the signs of a possible concussion, from organizing the course with the doctors of each club to direct communication with the players through the pioneering ‘Players App ‘ of the organization.
As explained by Luis Gil, director of competitions and the LaLiga player’s office: “LaLiga and AFE are going to promote and support this training, and we will make use of our internal channels, such as the ‘Players App’ that we have in LaLiga or the network of captains of AFE. We know the difficulties that many times can have to make players aware of this issue. We know that it is a challenge and that it is difficult. But, it is important that players are able to identify the signs or symptoms of a possible concussion to help their teammates and put health first. It’s important that they can communicate it to the coaching and medical staff”.
In the meantime, football’s governing bodies are working to determine a more standard protocol for concussions, and this is an issue FIFPRO Medical Director Vincent Gouttebarge is prioritizing, having suffered concussions during his own career.
Soccer is much safer than many other sports, as there is one concussion case for every 150 cases in football or ice hockey. Or one case per 300 in rugby. But LaLiga tries to strive to make the beautiful game as safe and enjoyable as possible.
By recognizing, reporting and removing suspected concussion players, Spanish football will continue to be at the forefront when it comes to player safety and well-being.