Marouane Fellaini and a ball that traces the speech. AP photo
The Rosario Football Federation kicked off a measure that is already being used in various parts of the world and that the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) studies in detail. In the Rosario children’s competitions the header will be considered a violation of the rules which will be sanctioned with an indirect free kick. Girls and boys under 12 will not be able to use their heads to hit the ball starting next year in competitions in that city of Santa Fe.
The amendment to the regulation – which contemplates the use of the garment – responds to a medical consideration: avoid future neurological problems. Hitting the head repeatedly generates microtrauma to the skull that can favor brain injuries: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, senile dementia and various cognitive disorders originate in this technical gesture.
The paradigm shift was given by the United States: the boys and girls who play football cannot hit their heads there. At the end of 2015, the Football Association of that country (USSF, in English), banned it in matches played by under 10 years of age to avoid concussions. The measure was the result of a process initiated by a group of parents based on the number of injuries to the children, following the collision of heads or the frontal with the ball.
Braian Romero, in the lead, in the participation of Defense and Justice in the Copa Libertadores. AP photo
A few years later and with an analysis of 8,000 footballers born between 1900 and 1976the English Football Association (FA) concluded that the players had almost four times more likely to suffer from dementia in old age compared to the average of its population. With these variables you have ordered something similar to the USSF and from next year, until the age of 12, the header will also be banned.
There was the warning sign five 1966 world champions who suffered from severe neurological problems. Nobby Stiles died of dementia Bobby Charlton lives with the same diagnosis. The presumption is that the consequences of the header in footballers are similar to those of boxers of boxers.
In Argentina, José Luis Pope Brown He died at the age of 62 after suffering from a neurodegenerative disease with which he struggled for 10 years. Edgardo Paton Bauza goes through an advanced picture of the same disease. There is more: Augustine Mario Cejas, Nestor Foo reds or Ruben brave ax Navarrese add to list.
Because Rosario no longer nods
“We would have implemented it in 2020, but the pandemic – of course – did not allow it. It first emerged from the observation of tournaments in which we participated in the United States and in various regions of Great Britain, which at certain levels also had the implemented From there, we started talking to specialists to find out if it was necessary“, he explained to Clarione the president of the Federcalcio Rosario (ARF), Mario Giammaria.
The date is now set for 2023 and this Thursday will be announced as a fact at a press conference in the city of Santa Fe. All that remains is to train the technical bodies and referees to support the teaching of a technique that will not be put into practice until the good adolescence.
“It will be possible to work on the technique with pears (similar to those used in boxing) or very light balls to create the front, the profiles and not close the eyes in the attempt”Giammaría clarified the scope of the ban.
What will happen in the game if a guy freaks out? If it is an attack, it will be an indirect free kick for the defending team. If, on the other hand, it is a defensive refusal, the same. Even if it occurs in the area, a perpendicular line will be drawn outside it to mark the spot of infringement.
What happens when you head
With the head, no. Worry about the consequences of a header.
The brain is covered with cerebrospinal fluid, which cushions in the event of a blow and prevents it from hitting the bone. In addition, the neck muscles are essential for keeping the spinal cord safe, lodged in the spine.
On some occasions, children use the same ball as adults: almost a kilo of weight, pushed at speeds that make the impact complex. the Brazilian Roberto Carlo He fired at 121 kilometers per hour. to Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo they calculated it at 118 and, in childhood, the strongest can go up to 70.
It’s not the same power of a 10-year-old as what a professional can get him pregnant, but shock is just as dangerous. In Seville it was enough to end the life of Edward pulleda 12 year old archer who he died after saving a penalty with his chest.
Difference between children and adults
A postcard of football for children in Rosario. Photo: Juan José García (file)
The Rosario project was supported by several surveys carried out around the world and based on the foundation of the psychiatry specialist Alicia Lischinskyowner of a rich curriculum that sees her at the head of the Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Favaloro.
The first thing the specialist made clear is that the repetition of the header action it has consequences for children, young people and adultsbut it makes a fundamental difference, related to training, brain learning and the connections that can be lost from these micro-injuries that occur at an early age.
“After several impacts, you won’t see anything in an MRI or a tomography, they are microscopic lesions, which is why it has historically been downplayed. But it affects cognitive development, even intelligence. Children have developing brains and by repetition of strokes, you can cut those developing connections “Lischinsky explained Clarione.
Renzo Ferraro of the 2008/09 category of Argentinos Juniors received the first green card, together with referee Adrián Coronel and the president of Children’s Football Dante Majori. Photo: AFA
The position of the FAA
One of the latest regulatory innovations at the level of children – in addition to the green card that rewards fair play – was the gradual adaptation of the small spaces to the size of football 11, as recommended by FIFA and the way UEFA works.
But the main novelty linked to the header problem concerns the ball: for the tournaments organized by the AFA it is lighter compared to those used by young people and adults, and this is linked to the physical care of children.
“We have seen what is happening in England, the decisions that have been made. We have met with the medical body (AFA), but we still do not have an opinion confirming that (in the head) it is harmful to health. We have reduced the weight and size of the ball, adapting it to the boys: they play with the lighter ones to adapt the sport to the year of the boy “the president of the AFA Youth Football Commission explained to Clarin, Dante Majori.
“From now to the rest of the year the evaluations will continue and we will see if another decision needs to be made”completed Majori, also head of the Yupanqui club.
The immediate consequences
Only on the last date and only in the matches of the Professional League have two cases of varying complexity been recorded. Paolo Perez he was hit in the face with a ball and was replaced on the recommendation of Newell’s medical staff. More serious, in the Lanús camp, Ian Escobarof Aldosivi, hit his head with that of Ivan CazalHe lost consciousness and ended up hospitalized.
These are not the causes that motivated the prohibition of headings in children’s games, but they show the risks of playing with the head and the risk that Dr. Lischinsky warned.
What remains is a discussion: How to imagine a central defender who does not anticipate a header? How about an attacker who jumps higher than his defender to score on goal? Part of the essence of football is in the header. The consequences, of course, were unknown. Until now.
Luciano Botti
Source: Clarin
