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Header in youth football (symbolic image)
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Jana Mänz / IMAGO / Westend61
Specialists at Hamburg's Asklepios Klinik Nord have called for a ban on headers in football with children under the age of twelve.
The doctors - including neurologists, ear, nose and throat specialists and pediatric surgeons - also criticized the attitude of the German Football Association, which relies on age-appropriate regulations.
"The experts at the clinic agree that a clear ban on headers would be the much more responsible version," said a spokesman for the Asklepios clinics.
The team doctor of the German national team and head of the medical committee of the DFB, Tim Meyer, had warned against ill-considered bans at the end of January: "Such a header usually does not result in any tangible medical symptoms."
Concussions could occasionally occur with headers.
"Most of the time it's not the ball that triggers that concussion, it's the contact with the opponent's head, shoulder, post or ground," Meyer said.
For training in younger youth classes, the DFB recommends light balls – made of foam, for example – and a small number of header repetitions per training session.
Small playing fields for the younger ones and mini-goals should help ensure that the balls are played flat.
The doctors at Hamburg's Asklepios Clinic called on the DFB to immediately take a stand against the early header game and to suspend header training for children under the age of twelve.
"Relying on Commissioner Chance in the sense that the problem will practically resolve itself through changed forms of play in the small field, we do not believe is sufficient protection for the long-term health of our children," explained the chief physician of the children's clinic at Asklepios Nord, Markus Kemper .
A Scottish study in 2019 found soccer players at an increased risk of dying from dementia or Alzheimer's.
So far, there is no answer to the question of whether heading balls can cause serious brain diseases.
England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have banned headers in training for children under the age of 12 since the beginning of 2020.
Headballs are illegal for children under the age of 10 in the United States.
ara/dpa