Health: does the head game seriously damage the health of the footballer?

"At Fifa, we are very vigilant on the head game and the microtrauma it can cause, testified Arsène Wenger, 71, now director of world development at Fifa, in our columns on March 3.

It now seems relevant to take action.

We must gradually limit the time spent on the head game in training.

And prohibit it among young people… ”

Does a pro feel any danger?

“Frankly, it never crossed my mind,” said Simon Banza, 24, RC Lens forward, four goals this season including two from the header.

"Playing a ball with the head is not like receiving a ball in the head when you do not expect it or suffering a head-to-head shock," he continues.

We're trained, I don't think it's a risk.

They are certainly repeated shocks but I do not think that it will be dangerous in the long run… And then, we do not spend our time making heads.

The ball is on the ground most of the time.

Compared to football before, a lot has changed, both in terms of the balls and in terms of the game. I think boxing does more damage.

"

"No study says that a real danger threatens the future of players"

In training, Banza says he hits quite a few heads: “We work on situations, with one specific attacking session per week in front of goal.

This must represent ten heads.

But there is no targeted training on it.

"Dr. Emmanuel Orhant, medical director of the FFF and member of the working group on this topic at UEFA, is categorical:" With my group of neurologists at the FFF, we ensure a scientific watch on all the studies that come out. and so far, none has formally said that a real danger threatens the future of the players.

"

A Scottish study published in 2019 conducted with former pros, however, evoked the risk of dementia multiplied by four and neurodegenerative diseases by three.

Not convincing, according to Dr. Orhant: “This study observes what players, who exercised for ten years, sometimes less, died at 80 years.

However, in these diseases, many things complicate the analysis.

We know that environmental and health conditions are very impactful.

"

The doctor mentions other studies, carried out on adults and children and based on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) performed before and after the season, or after head play, or even after concussion.

“They show signs of thought about impact,” says Dr. Orhant.

Except that this is only a short-term impact.

All these studies conclude that in the medium term, after six or twelve months, no consequence is no longer visible, neither on MRI, nor at the neuropsychological level.

"

Precautionary principle in children

The aerial game is yet to be explored.

“Regarding concussions, it is clear that we must seek 100% of cases and manage them well, insists Dr. Ohrant.

Regarding the head game, the precautionary principle must prevail in children.

But in adults, it's impossible to say.

I am not convinced of anything, except that we must continue to work on this subject.

As early as 2015, North Americans banned head play for children under 10 and regulated it for 10-13 year olds.

In 2020, England and Scotland banned him from training in the Under-12s.

Clarification from Dr. Ohrant: “English and Scottish have made it clear that they are only relying on a bundle of presumptions and that they are aiming for maximum security within a legal framework.

"

In June, the UEFA working group of which Dr. Ohrant is a member issued a document listing four essential measures in children: learning the gesture, ball adapted in size and inflation pressure, neck muscle building, attention. carried with mild symptoms.

“As a child, around 10, I trained a lot with my mom,” Banza remembers.

But she would throw the ball in my hand so that I could learn the gestures: the head, the turn, etc.

"

PSG express newsletter

Our information on the capital club

Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters

At Esperance Paris 19e, we train young footballers in conscience.

"Faced with the studies that come out, even in the absence of formal study, we have intuitively reduced the work of the head game in recent years", testifies Alan Bouterfa, head of the football school.

With the 12 years old, we take care to use only size 4 balls (size 5 for adults) and to an appropriate inflation.

“We insist on the orientation of the body, the posture to adopt, the surface of the head to use ...., adds Bouterfa.

In practice, the head workshop times are very short: 1′30 ′ 'to 2 ′ of juggling per session (two sessions per week).

We could but we refrain from working specifically on corners.

In children, the demand is not very strong compared to the head game and, in any case, as recommended by the FFF, we are on a methodology which wants the ball to stay preferentially on the ground.

"