Raul Jimenez injury: Alan Shearer and Headway call for concussion subs in football
Football has been warned it is gambling with players’ safety and urged to introduce concussion substitutes after David Luiz played on following his sickening head clash with Raul Jimenez.
The Arsenal defender banged heads with Jimenez during Sunday’s match at Emirates Stadium, which Wolves won 2-1, and play was stopped for 10 minutes as both players received medical attention on the pitch.
Jimenez was given oxygen and carried off the pitch on a stretcher before being taken to hospital, where as of this morning Wolves said he was “comfortable” following an operation last night on a fractured skull. He will now remain under observation for a few days while he begins his recovery.
Luiz, on the other hand, had his head bandaged and returned to the field of play for a further 40 minutes before being substituted at half-time.
Arsenal insist all medical protocols were followed with Luiz and he was substituted at the break due to a cut on his head making it uncomfortable for him to head the ball.
The Brazilian playing on, however, has led to criticism from brain injury association charity Headway, who have warned football is gambling with players’ safety.
Former England captain Alan Shearer has also passionately called for the introduction of concussion substitutes.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 last night, Shearer said: “Football needs to get real. It needs to wake up. It needs to get serious - not next year, not next month, not next week, now.
“We’re talking about life and death here, and players’ careers ending.
“It is just not acceptable. It has been going on for far, far too long. They are on about trialling the concussion substitutes, what’s to trial about it? Why isn’t it in now.
Jimenez had to receive oxygen before being taken off the pitch on a stretcher.
Arsenal FC via Getty Images“It has been going on for years this. We have been having meeting, after meeting, after meeting. Why do they need to trial it next year? Just do it. It is not acceptable.
“Football’s protocols allow someone who has got a cut that deep that it is seeping through the bandage that has just been put on, then he has to go off again because he is not right because he can’t come on and head the ball? Football’s protocols allow that?”
Concussion substitutes already feature in other sports, such as cricket and rugby, but they are yet to be introduced to football.
They could come into force next year, though, with the Football Association set to trial them during this season’s FA Cup if the game’s lawmakers give the green light next month.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have proposed trialling an extra permanent substitute in the event of head injuries and will make a final decision on December 16.
Shearer and others, such as the brain injury association charity Headway, want action to happen now, though.
Luke Griggs, deputy chief executive at headway, said this morning: “Too often in football, we see players returning to the pitch having undergone a concussion assessment – only to be withdrawn a few minutes later when it is clear that they are not fit to continue.
“That is the very reason why we urgently need temporary concussion substitutes in football. You simply cannot take a risk with head injuries.
“They are not like muscular injuries where you can put a player back on ‘to see if they can it if off’. One further blow to the head when concussed could have serious consequences.
“The question that has to be asked is had the concussion substitutes rule been in place, would Luiz have been allowed to return to the field of play? Would that extra time in the treatment room have led to a different decision being made?
“Something is not right. This cannot be allowed to continue. How many warnings does football need?”
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