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Julian Ryerson and Andreas Luthe were treated for minutes
Photo: Friso Gentsch / dpa
Andreas Luthe and Julian Ryerson collided with their heads, had to be treated for minutes and then continued to play.
After the violent clash between the two Bundesliga professionals from Union Berlin, the way professional football deals with the issue of head injuries is again being critically scrutinized.
"From a health perspective, you should have taken both players off the pitch," said Ingo Helmich, who is researching sport-related concussions in the Neurology Department at the Cologne Sports University.
The Berliners Luthe and Ryerson had hit each other with their heads after a cross in the away game on Sunday at Arminia Bielefeld (0-0) and fell to the ground in a daze.
After an eight-minute break in treatment, Ryerson (with a head bandage) and Luthe (with a nose patch because of a cut) played through to the end.
"There are certain cognitive tests that you can use on the field in such a situation to determine a possible concussion," said Helmich: "But sometimes the symptoms only appear after hours."
Luthe and Ryerson gave the all-clear after the game
Immediately after the final whistle, the players concerned gave the all-clear in Sky interviews.
“I knew where I was and what the score was.
So: not an issue, ”said goalkeeper Luthe.
Ryerson said he was "a bit dim" for the first few minutes after the accident, "but that was back to normal quickly."
It was initially unclear whether symptoms of a concussion appeared after the game.
Union has not yet commented on the health of the two players.
In contrast to the US football league NFL, for example, there is no standardized procedure for head injuries in the Bundesliga.
In American football, on the other hand, a so-called Concussion Protocol was introduced.
Players who may have suffered a concussion must pass several tests before they can continue playing.
In American football, it was a long struggle before it was recognized that head injuries resulting from collisions were responsible for the severe brain disease CTE and subsequent symptoms such as depression, aggressiveness, murder and suicide.
The German Football League (DFL) made tests for the diagnosis of possible brain damage mandatory for the professionals of the 36 first and second division clubs.
When checking in the run-up to the season, various sub-areas of brain function should be examined, such as balance and memory.
With these findings, a »normal state« should be defined for every player.
If a player's head is injured on the field, the team doctor can come to a more precise diagnosis by measuring any deviations, the so-called baseline screening.
The rulers of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) also allowed a test phase for an additional player change in the event of head injuries last December.
The English Premier League takes part in it.
The DFL decided not to participate and justified this with the fact that due to the corona pandemic, the change quota had been expanded to five changes per game.
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