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35 Former Footballers Sue English Football Over Brain Injury Negligence
A group of 35 former footballers, many of them from the Premier League, have sued various bodies of English football over brain injuries suffered while playing the sport.
These players have sued the English Football Association, the Welsh Football Association, the English Football League, which oversees the Second to Fourth divisions, and IFAB, responsible for designing the rules of football, for being 'negligent' in protecting players from head injuries caused by heading the ball.
During the time this litigation has been ongoing, six claimants have died, including Joe Kiennar last April, a legend of Tottenham Hotspur, Irish national team coach, and manager of Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. He died from vascular dementia.
The claimants' lawyers have submitted 8,000 pages of medical records as evidence, stating that the players have had to live with irreversible neurological injuries, including dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, post-concussion syndrome, epilepsy, Parkinson's, and motor neuron disease.
Richard Boardman, the prosecution's lawyer, stated that this preliminary hearing, scheduled for this Wednesday pending a trial date, seeks 'justice' for those whom football authorities failed to protect from brain damage. 'The defendants are trying to prolong the process,' he added.
An FA spokesperson stated that they cannot comment while legal proceedings are underway but added that they continuously assess and improve the safety of the sport.