Study to look at long-term health risks of playing soccer
LONDON (AP) A major study into whether soccer players are at risk of degenerative brain disease has been commissioned amid concerns that the sport's authorities in England haven't done enough to tackle the issue.
The Football Association and Professional Footballers' Association have appointed a research team, based in Scotland, to undertake a study entitled ''Football's Influence on Lifelong Health and Dementia Risk'' from January 2018.
FA chief executive Martin Glenn said it will be ''one of the most comprehensive studies ever commissioned into the long-term health of former footballers'' because ''we feel compelled ... to fully understand if there are any potential risks associated with playing the game.''
Researchers will address the question: ''Is the incidence of degenerative neurocognitive disease more common in ex-professional footballers than in the normal population?''