Scottish football clubs are to be told to stop players from heading the ball on the days immediately before and after matches, under new guidelines from the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
The guidelines, which follow new research into concussion and the impact of headbutts in training on the brain, also recommend that training exercises involving repeated headbutts should be limited to once a week.
The SFA first introduced guidelines limiting head-butting in children’s and young people’s football in 2020, following research from the University of Glasgow indicating that footballers were at increased risk of neurodegenerative disease.
The new guidelines are aimed at all adult teams, including at the professional level, following new research by the SFA and the Hampden Sports Clinic.
Although the research is still developing, what is already known about headbutting and its effects on the brain suggests that there is measurable memory impairment that lasts for 24-48 hours after a series of headbutts, Dr John MacLean, chief medical consultant to the SFA, said.
He added that brain-related proteins can be detected in blood samples for a short period after headbutts and that changes in the brain scan have also been reported in footballers and may be related to headbutts.
The aim is therefore to reduce any potential cumulative effect of head-butting by reducing overall exposure to head-butting in training, Dr. MacLean said.
