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The family of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles are among a group launching legal action against the Football Association’s governing body (IFAB) as well as the English and Welsh FAs. for ignoring claims that they failed to protect players from brain injuries.
The legal action is being led by Rylands, the London law firm, which said they are about 30 footballers with “brain damage.”
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They also represent a group of more than three hundred and more than 300 former football union and league players who are suing the authorities for indifference.
“The plaintiffs argue that these defendants were considered negligent in failing to take reasonable steps to protect the players from permanent injury due to repeated hits and minor penalties,” Rylands wrote in a statement on Friday.
“Many athletes now suffer or have died from a variety of irreversible neurological deficits, including stroke, CTE (complex traumatic encephalopathy) and post-concussion syndrome.”
The FA, FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB) did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Football Association of Wales declined to comment.
Rylands’ report also highlighted specific areas where governing bodies were lax, including failing to lower heads in matches and training, monitoring the amount of head contact and implement the necessary requirements for the inspection of players.
Rylands’ lawyer, Richard Boardman, said the claim was not just about financial compensation, adding that it was “also about keeping the game safe and ensuring current and former players are tested.”
The family of England’s 1966 World Cup winner Stiles, who died aged 78 in October 2020 and had been diagnosed with dementia, is among the participating countries.
“These legal actions are considered part of this campaign for justice for victims, like Father, and for a major change in an industry that continues to cause the death and loss of thousands of athletes (professional and the general public, men and women) every year,” said Stiles’ son John.
The IFAB has given the go-ahead for tests on real substitutes in 2020, after the Premier League and Women’s Super League introduced the system in England last year.
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