FOOTBALL governing body FIFA has said that protecting players will remain a top priority in “developing the game” amid calls for headers to be scrapped to reduce dementia risks.

Research led by a Scottish brain injury expert showed defenders – who head the ball most frequently – were five times more likely to suffer neurodegenerative conditions. 

Professor Willie Stewart’s latest study findings also showed that players with a career lasting more than 15 years were also five times more likely to be at risk.

A spokeswoman for FIFA said it took its responsibility to protect players seriously and said the research had indicated that mitigations may be necessary for “non-goalkeeping” positions.

Prof Stewart described plans by the FA to set a limit on the number of 'higher force' headers from free kicks and crosses as ‘unscientific’.

He said that if governing bodies will not consider eliminating headers from the game, the current safeguards for players must be strengthened.

He said unions such as the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) could do more to argue for safer playing conditions and said players were right to feel anxious.

READ MORE: Football dementia risk five times higher for defenders, study shows

He said: “I would be, too. This is potentially the future they are facing and I think that’s where players’ unions should step up and say, on behalf of our members, this is something we want taken seriously.

“We see it in shipbuilding, we see it in mining where unions have stepped in quite vigorously. 

“If you are 35-40 and retiring you are now hearing your risk of dementia is five times higher than it should be. I think football needs to be thinking about what they do to support them, 

“Professional boxers get brain scans every year or two and they get reviewed by a neurologist  and its the same problem. 

“If the scan looks like it’s changing, they say, this is the time to end your career. If football says it’s not going to change in any way, it has to change in how it looks after its players. 

“If a 28-year-old central defender at his annual review gets a brain scan that shows his brain is changing, you might advise him to consider stopping now because his risk of dementia is going up.

“Brain injury is just one risk factor (for dementia) there are other things we could work with whereby we could get that risk down to three times or twice or perhaps
even down to normal.”

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Prof Stewart said the latest study findings had prompted a common but misguided response from football fans that heavier footballs used in the past were responsible for the dementia incidence.

He said: “The older balls with leather coating used to get scuffed and absorb a bit of water and yes, they would get a bit heavier, but the physics of ball biomechanics, the force that a player will feel coming at them, is less dependent on the weight or the stiffness of the ball but it’s very dependent on the speed the ball is moving at.

“A big difference in weight makes not much difference to the force but a small difference in speed makes a huge difference to the force.”

Responding to claims removing headers would remove one of the skills football, he said:

“I suspect it would just as entertaining a game, if not perhaps more entertaining and the players will be protected against long-term health problem. I don’t think you would notice much difference. Sport rules change all the time.”

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A spokeswoman for FIFA said: “FIFA welcomes the conducted research and takes its responsibility in relation to this topic very seriously as protecting the health of players is – and will remain – a top priority in developing the game. 

“The said study helps with our understanding of how playing football potentially affects the brain as it indicates that factors associated with non-goalkeeper positions should be scrutinized, that may help mitigate risks.”

“In the meantime, FIFA will continue to support further research and to explore strategies to further protect players’ health, reduce risks and mitigate negative outcomes in this population.”

In response, Prof Stewart said: "I  hope that the global game might at some time have more than 95 words to offer the quarter billion current players at risk and the many, many more living with risk, if not dementia from the game."