In January 2020, an application was made for the first time in relation to football after it was found that former professional players 3.5 times more likely to develop a degenerative brain disease, with a five-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease. Former international rugby players found to be 2.7 times more likely than the rest of the population to suffer from degenerative brain disease, with motor neuron disease 15 times more common among ex-elite players.
The survey mainly looked at rugby players from the old amateur era, when there was less training, matches and headbutts, leading to warnings of an imminent epidemic of problems among the modern generation.
National guidelines state that a disease is at least twice as common in a given industry to be recognized as an industrial disease, and there is growing frustration at the constant wait for an official decision.
If the neurodegenerative disease is formally recognized, former players will be able to claim disability benefits due to disability, as is the case with more than 70 other illnesses covered by the scheme. This is a capped weekly benefit paid to people who become incapacitated by an accident at work or by certain prescribed illnesses caused by their work.
“It is no longer possible to ignore this life-threatening problem and its implications for contact sports – rugby is now aligned with football as sports that both cause brain injury,” says Dr. Judith Gates, the founder of the charity Head for Change, who is with Dawn Astle, submitted the original application to the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council, an independent scientific advisory body that reports to the government. The municipality has now agreed to watch both rugby and football.
“With the advent of the professional era in 1995, with an increased dosage of head impacts, in addition to the increased physicality of a game, it is frightening to predict how much the incidence of subsequent brain disease will increase in subsequent research,” Gates said.
“The occupational accident advisory board should certainly have enough research evidence to prescribe dementia etc.” contact sports as an industrial disease. The sporting governing bodies should certainly exercise their duty of care towards players. Tomorrow will be too late for today’s players.”
‘Traumatic brain injury in sports is an epidemic’
The broader call is to change the way sport is practiced to reduce head impact training exercises, shorten the competition calendar and assess how rules can evolve to reduce head impact.
Richard Boardman, the lawyer leading a legal action against World Rugby, said that “the issue of traumatic brain injury in sport is epidemic and poses an existential threat at all levels, be it elite, amateur or youth”.
James Drake, the founder of a charity that funds research into neurological disorders, said the Glasgow study was particularly concerning because it focused on amateur-era players and yet found such an increased risk.
“We know that the modern professional game is stronger, faster and potentially poses an even greater risk to players’ well-being, so we urge authorities to take further measures to reduce players’ exposure to head effects in both matches and training significantly as the research continues,” Drake said.
dr. World Rugby’s Chief Medical Officer Eanna Falvey said the governing body had invested more than €10 million (£8.73 million) in welfare studies and set up an independent working group to evaluate new research and potential changes to the game.
“We will build on this work in our quest to make our game as safe as possible for players at all levels within the rugby family,” he added.