Responding to increasing concerns around adverse brain health outcomes among former football (soccer) players, the Football Association of England recently announced a trial ban on heading in matches for players aged under 12 years. This is a step in the right direction, but wider interventions to preserve brain health should not be forgotten.
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Acknowledgements
W.S. is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, US (U54NS115322) and from the FA and Federation International de Football Association (FIFA).
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A.C. has given paid testimony in court on a range of neuropsychiatric topics, sits on the Department of Culture Media and Sport Concussion in Sport Research Forum, is paid associate editor of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and is unpaid president of the Functional Neurological Disorders Society. He has campaigned in various forums for 20 years for improved clinical care for traumatic brain injury in the UK. W.S. declares no competing interests.
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Stewart, W., Carson, A. Heading in the right direction. Nat Rev Neurol 18, 573–574 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-022-00712-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-022-00712-y
