The Scottish Rugby Union will "consider making headguards mandatory" after research suggested they could make a "significant difference in preventing head injuries among players." A study by the University of Dundee showed that wearing a protective scrum cap "can almost halve the force impacting on players' heads during matches and training." The researchers said that "even the least effective headgear tested could help" minimize serious injuries such as concussion (LONDON TIMES, 11/13).
U.K. PM Theresa May faces defeat in the House of Commons next week over fixed-odds betting terminals "at the hands of at least 20 of her own MPs," including former cabinet ministers Boris Johnson, Justine Greening and Nicky Morgan. Former U.K. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch resigned from the government two weeks ago after the Treasury delayed plans to cut the maximum stake on the gambling machines from £100 ($129.51) to £2 ($2.59) (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/12).
The GAA "seems set to alter" another of its proposed Gaelic football rules, dropping the change that would make two yellow cards a sin-bin offense rather than a red. Last month, the Standing Committee on the Playing Rules "issued five proposed experimental rule changes," including changes to kick-outs, handpassing limits and the introduction of a sin-bin, which will be trialed in '19 (RTÉ, 11/13).
The founding president of WADA, Dick Pound, accused UK Anti-Doping of "being out of line in the fall-out of the Russian cheating scandal" and trying to act as "heirs apparent" to WADA. A recent summit in Washington, headed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and attended by UKAD, "called for urgent WADA reform." But Pound said, "I think USADA and UKAD and other national anti-doping organizations are out of line on this. They're out of control and focusing on the wrong things" (London EVENING STANDARD, 11/13).
