UPDATE: Referees may stop soccer matches for up to three minutes while the team doctor decides if a player can stay in the game in European competitions, wire services are reported on Thursday.

Gianni Infantino, the secretary general of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), said the policy was approved by the organization’s executive committee and will take effect immediately, according to Reuters.

My Original Story

Should referees stop a soccer game if a player gets hit hard in the head? Should team doctors should overrule coaches in deciding if a player stays in the game?

The answers to both questions seem obvious, but they are only now trickling into the minds of soccer’s governing body.

Leaders of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) last week put the notions forward, but without taking any new definitive positions.

The Guardian reports:

Fifa’s medical committee chairman, Michel D’Hooghe, wants to allow referees to stop matches for three minutes to asses head injuries when a concussion is suspected.

Football leaders have been under pressure to protect players better after five concussion cases at the World Cup in Brazil, including several where the player tried to stay on the field.

And the Associated Press adds that

D’Hooghe said doctors rather than coaches should decide whether the player can remain on the pitch.

Pressure is also coming at the amateur level in the United States where a group of parents has sued FIFA, the New York Times reports:

Filed in United States District Court in California, the suit also names American soccer organizations, including U.S. Soccer and the American Youth Soccer Organization, charging that they and FIFA have been negligent in monitoring and treating head injuries….

The suit seeks an injunction that would change the way soccer is played at all levels. Children under 17 would be limited in how many times they could head the ball. The suit also seeks to require professional and other advanced leagues, which are currently limited to three substitutions a game, to allow temporary substitutions while a player is examined for a head injury. Medical testing would also be available for soccer players who competed as long ago as 2002 and are now coping with the effects of concussions.

50,000 High School Soccer Concussions

The evidence on whether heading the ball in soccer increases the risk of brain damage is still mixed. Most concussions in the sport occur as the result of contact between players. Still, these moves sound like common sense. But some legal experts quoted by the Times think the lawsuit won’t succeed because the plaintiffs in the case were not themselves injured.

That separates the lawsuit from the one lodged by (NFL) National Football League in which 5000 players alleged that they at risk of long-term brain damage resulting from trauma during games.

A federal judge approved a settlement in that lawsuit in July.
But if the law won’t force FIFA and its U.S. affiliates to act, I hope morality will. As the Times reports:

According to the filing, nearly 50,000 high school soccer players sustained concussions in 2010 — more players than in baseball, basketball, softball and wrestling combined.

More can be done in both soccer and football to prevent concussions, and I don’t think these practices will interfere with anyone’s enjoyment of the sport.