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doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:18 am
by mastermind
Nigerian doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football
Bennet Omalu: Heading the ball is dangerous
Nigerian doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football


Heading a football should be restricted in the professional game and banned for those under the age of 18, according to one of the world’s leading experts on brain injuries.

Dr Bennet Omalu discovered the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The condition has long-term effects and is caused by repeated head trauma.

“It does not make sense to control an object travelling at a high velocity with your head,” Dr Omalu said.

“I believe, eventually, at the professional level we need to restrict heading of the ball. It is dangerous.”
Bennet Omalu and Will Smith, who played the Nigerian in the movie Concussion

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live’s Phil Williams programme, Omalu added: “No child under the age of 18 should be heading the ball in soccer.

“Kids under the age of 12 to 14 should play a less contact form of soccer which we should develop for them. Kids between 12 and 18 can play but should not head the ball.

“I know this is difficult for many people but science evolves. We change with time. Society changes. It is time for us to change some of our ways.”

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.

He died in 2004, aged 72, after suffering with Alzheimer’s for almost 10 years following his 16-year football career.

On Wednesday, his daughter Dawn repeated calls for the game to investigate possible links between CTE and the heading of footballs.

“This is fact now. We are not just assuming other players may have died of the same illness as Dad, this is now fact,” said Dawn.

Her latest comments come after the death of Rod Taylor, a former wing-half for Portsmouth, Gillingham and Bournemouth, who died in April having suffered from the condition.

His daughter Rachel Walden told the BBC heading the ball should not be banned but instead the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the Football Association (FA) should to do more to help support former players and their families.

“My father’s dementia was caused by heading the ball and concussions,” she said. “We can’t wait for them to die before we start helping them. We need to start helping them now.

“We are not blaming the football clubs or the clubs that he played for. He was proud of all the clubs he played for. It’s not about changing the game, it’s about trying to get the PFA to take responsibility for their members in their hour of need.”

Several high-profile ex-players have been diagnosed with dementia, including 1966 England World Cup winners Nobby Stiles, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson, Liverpool legends Ron Yeats and Tommy Smith and Celtic’s European Cup-winning captain Billy McNeill.

Speaking about the effect heading a football has on the head, Omalu said: “The human brain floats like a balloon inside your skull so when you head the ball you suffer brain damage. You damage your brain when you head the ball.

“Playing soccer would increase your risk of suffering brain damage when you are much older and developing dementia and CTE.”

There have been a number of moves across professional sport to combat head injuries.

Concussion substitutes have been introduced to county cricket this summer, allowing teams to replace a player who has concussion or suspected concussion, while rugby union chiefs introduced an eight-point action plan in March to make the sport safer.

Will Smith played Omalu in the 2015 movie Concussion about the Nigerian’s efforts to publicise CTE in the face of opposition in American football.

https://www.naijiant.com/sports/nigeria ... -football/

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:59 am
by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA
Source pls. The one you posted is sauce, mods saucing yrs ago. :thumb:

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:28 am
by Coach
Tell that to Reg Dwight’s barmy army. Two gorgeous headers. CTE? Bollocks, more like 3 points and unbeaten going into the international break.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:39 am
by Odas
To ban "heading in football" is to ban scoring goals during corner kicks and et al.; therefore, this call will not be heeded by FIFA

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:42 am
by joao
This sounds like the American suggestion to counter the physical effects of their version of football.
Very soon there will be no tackling or body checking in soccer, just to appease some souls who never
like anything physical.
BS!!!

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:46 am
by ANC
honestly, i often wondered how these footballers do it....dude heading a 70m/hr football is no joke.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:50 am
by Enugu II
Politically not feasible. The medical push has to be much stronger to push aside money considerations

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 10:17 am
by Coach
ANC wrote:honestly, i often wondered how these footballers do it....dude heading a 70m/hr football is no joke.
Keep the eyes on the ball, track the trajectory, get goalside of your marker and meet it flush with the thick of the forehead. One-nil. Two banks of four and defend the 18 as if life depended on it. And it does.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:45 pm
by charlie
Before you guys start yabbing Dr. Omalu, take your time and read what he said. This is a man of our soil who took on the NFL and won. He knows what he is talking about and is highly respected by the best of all medical doctors.

He says first and foremost that youths (12-18), should not be heading the ball. The reasons are sensible. The skull is less developed in those age groups and the brain is still in a fragile state of development. He is not calling for an out right ban of heading in football in all age groups.

Personally, taking on and beating the power NFL with their media machine and resources is one thing. Taking on FIFA and cultural bias in global football is a completely different matter. Personally, I dont think its outrageous to suggest wearing head protection (like in Rugby) for youths playing football. That should at least provide a compromise until such a time when more medical facts on effects of CTE in youth competitions can determined.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:58 pm
by felarey
charlie wrote:Before you guys start yabbing Dr. Omalu, take your time and read what he said. This is a man of our soil who took on the NFL and won. He knows what he is talking about and is highly respected by the best of all medical doctors.

He says first and foremost that youths (12-18), should not be heading the ball. The reasons are sensible. The skull is less developed in those age groups and the brain is still in a fragile state of development. He is not calling for an out right ban of heading in football in all age groups.

Personally, taking on and beating the power NFL with their media machine and resources is one thing. Taking on FIFA and cultural bias in global football is a completely different matter. Personally, I dont think its outrageous to suggest wearing head protection (like in Rugby) for youths playing football. That should at least provide a compromise until such a time when more medical facts on effects of CTE in youth competitions can determined.
In my neck of the woods, it's been an ongoing discussion about whether kids should wear helmets when playing soccer. I feel there's more of a risk with a ball drilled against a person's head than heading the ball. The head is no way as involved playing soccer compared to American football.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:05 am
by mcal
...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:29 am
by Mr. Piffington
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.
The guy is the expert, I'd pay attention to him if I were you.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:38 am
by Enugu II
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:40 am
by Enugu II
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 2:26 pm
by Kneedeep
In a collision between object 1 and object 2, the force exerted on object 1 (F1) is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force exerted on object 2 (F2). In equation form:
F1 = - F2
The above statement is simply an application of Newton's third law of motion to the collision between objects 1 and 2.

Summary:
Touch a wall for 2.0 seconds, and the wall touches you for 2.0 seconds. Such a contact interaction is mutual; you touch the wall and the wall touches you. It's a two-way interaction - a mutual interaction; not a one-way interaction.
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/calcpad/momentum



Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:15 pm
by jette1
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:31 pm
by Enugu II
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:41 pm
by mcal
Enugu II wrote:
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.
...at that level, the kids lack the coordination in using their head, especially Americans.
I coached youth soccer back in the 90s, I have to repeatedly teach them how to head a ball. Be the aggressor to the ball, don't let the ball (with all it's weight or force) hit you.
It's tough for them to understand though.
Note, even among pros, when a shot is knowingly blocked, with any part of the body, the player absorb the force/energy, but when the player don't see the shot coming it hurts.

But, I'll say I don't have scientific researched facts to present, out of experience thus I speak.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:42 pm
by txj
Enugu II wrote:
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.

The counter argument on the NFL concussion case was quite fraudulent, in some cases nearly criminal...

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:27 pm
by Enugu II
txj wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.

The counter argument on the NFL concussion case was quite fraudulent, in some cases nearly criminal...
Txj,

I will not classify all the counter arguments as fraudulent. It is a scientific debate and science can have ferments and differences in ideas and conclusions. Without such debates we cannot encounter new knowledge or shift in paradigm. It is vigorous debates like those, as well as many others, that lead to new knowledge.

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:07 pm
by charlie
Enugu II wrote:
txj wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.

The counter argument on the NFL concussion case was quite fraudulent, in some cases nearly criminal...
Txj,

I will not classify all the counter arguments as fraudulent. It is a scientific debate and science can have ferments and differences in ideas and conclusions. Without such debates we cannot encounter new knowledge or shift in paradigm. It is vigorous debates like those, as well as many others, that lead to new knowledge.
Enugu II,

while I agree it is generally positive to pursue a vigorous debate where all sides are explored equally, Txj is right. The NFL position on CTE was fraudulent and based on lies, specifically related to facts that they purposefully hid or repressed their own internal studies and data on the long term effects of concussion, and links future neurodegenerative diseases.

Read the following Maxwell v NFL, line 119 to 126


Their tactics are very similar to those employed by the tobacco industry before they go caught with cold plain facts. The document (and hundreds of others) show a repeated pattern of lies, distortion and suppression of the truth. Those court cases are still ongoing and will one day cost the NFL billions and maybe even their livelihood.

If you like research, there is a host of content on the web on existing court cases against the NFL (242 open court complaints).

http://nflconcussionlitigation.com/

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:08 pm
by txj
Enugu II wrote:
txj wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
jette1 wrote:
Enugu II wrote:
mcal wrote:...I see Omalu is thinking American now. You head the ball, the ball don't head you.
The player is the one applying the force that helps to cushion the impact, a controlled contact.
Versus the hit in American football where someone is moving at a 100 mph speed and knocking an unsuspecting head.
In our type of football, if the ball hit an unsuspecting player in the head, hell yeah, it will hurt, just like the coming together by two players and banging their head.

Mcal

Bros, Omalu is a researcher privy to certain medical results that you are not aware of. IMHo his opinion is far more credible. What needs to be known is if there are counter opinions that are equally authoritative. If you have access to such counters it will be good to present them.
it doesn't matter counter or no counter it ain't gonna happen. helmet might be introduced before you ever see a heading ban

I am not sure what will happen. However, bear in mind that heading is already banned, I suppose, in some U10 leagues already. My hope is that there are researchers who indicate that health problems are not as significantly damaging as Dr. Omalu claims. It is that counter that may be of great help in keeping the game largely the way it is.

The counter argument on the NFL concussion case was quite fraudulent, in some cases nearly criminal...
Txj,

I will not classify all the counter arguments as fraudulent. It is a scientific debate and science can have ferments and differences in ideas and conclusions. Without such debates we cannot encounter new knowledge or shift in paradigm. It is vigorous debates like those, as well as many others, that lead to new knowledge.
They were being sponsored by conflicted parties, with those conflicts never properly disclosed. In addition to the fact they were being used to systematically undermine Omalu both at a professional and personal level...

Re: doctor Bennet Omalu calls for ban on heading in football

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:18 pm
by Enugu II
Charlie and Txj

No one denies that SOME of the counter were ridiculous and biased. The point is that there were some legitimate questions and disputes. Some of those may even remain as of today. It isn't entirely settled even though the knowledge has decidedly shifted to Omalu's view. That is the point that I make. You can find some of these legitimate questions online.