The FA will ask FIFA to "investigate whether former players have dementia as a consequence of brain damage from playing the game," according to the AP. Three members of England's 1966 World Cup squad -- Martin Peters, Nobby Stiles, Ray Wilson -- "have Alzheimer's, family members told Saturday's Daily Mirror." Concerns "have grown in Britain about the impact of head injuries after campaigning by the family of former England striker Jeff Astle, whose death in 2002 was attributed to repeatedly heading heavy, leather balls." FA Medical Head Ian Beasley is seeking assistance from world football's governing body to "help determine if there are definitive long-term health dangers from playing the game, and if prospective players should be warned." Beasley said, "We are taking some research questions to FIFA imminently to ask, 'Can you help us in trying to find out if dementia is more common in ex-professional footballers?' The trouble is we just don't know ... it's a massive undertaking to try and decide whether there's an association between having played professional football and cognitive decline, dementia you might call it commonly -- brain damage causing functional impairment over time. We just don't know. It's always tempting to say, 'It must be.' But we're not sure." Last year, the U.S. Soccer Federation "recommended a ban on headers for players 10 and under in a bid to address concerns about the impact of head injuries." FIFA Chief Medical Officer Jiri Dvorak was "not aware of the FA seeking specific research into links between footballers' brain trauma and dementia" (AP, 4/9).
