Brain Injury Expert Calls For Ban On Headers By Players Under 18

Dr. Bennet Omalu cautioned against players under the age of 18 heading footballs.GETTY IMAGES

Heading a football "should be restricted in the professional game and banned for those under the age of 18," one of the world's "leading experts on brain injuries" said, according to the BBC. Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The brain disease has "long-term effects and is caused by repeated head trauma." Omalu: "It does not make sense to control an object traveling at a high velocity with your head. I believe, eventually, at the professional level we need to restrict heading of the ball. It is dangerous." He added, "No child under the age of 18 should be heading the ball in soccer." An inquest into the death of former England and West Brom footballer Jeff Astle ruled he "died from brain trauma caused by heading heavy leather footballs." On Wednesday, his daughter Dawn "repeated calls for the game to investigate possible links between CTE and the heading of footballs" (BBC, 8/8).