Head the ball - your views online

Scottish football is to ban heading the ball in training the day before and the day after a game – and limit its use in other training exercises. Heading the ball has been linked dementia and other illnesses.

Paul Johnston

So heading the ball is added to the lack of talent in tackling, passing and getting the ball in the goal, then.

Brian Allison

The end of football as we know it.

Ken Mckenzie

Life itself is risky. We each decide for ourselves the level of risk we take. Do we smoke drink, drive, ski, play in a child’s play park, work in construction or mining? Each carries a risk. In fact, just crossing the road even carries a risk. We cannot eliminate them all unless we live in a cocoon. Personally I feel this Scottish action is too much nannying by the state...there are so many other more significant risks they should focus on, such as how to save more lives by improving healthcare.

Juden Berg

Just ban football, contact sports such as rugby, sports with sticks, ie hockey. You could lose an eye playing tiddlywinks – that game needs risk assessed.

Geoff Deans

They don't have to head a heavy ball in the wet as I had to back in the day! It’s not a ball they play with these days, it’s a balloon.

Gary Taylor

I’m surprised at the comments regarding heading the ball less. Look at the players who have suffered dementia – a horrible affliction – due to excessive headering of the ball. Jeff Astle is just one example. Any preventive action should surely be welcome. Players can still head the ball during games. I applaud this.

Derek Hall

Could we also bring their mummies along on the day of games so that they can hold their hands if somebody shouts something which they don’t like? Some people can be so cruel.

Michael Dowds

So when is boxing, kick boxing etc getting banned outright? Surely they are far more dangerous to the brain?

Linda Anderson

They need more practice in how to head a ball, not less.

Rob Stevens

There is a lot of evidence on the brain damage caused by repetitive bumps to the head. A good move.

Sam Smith

There's a multi-million pound lawsuit being progressed against rugby union authorities for players who have sustained permanent brain damage. Other sports bodies have to be pro-active in limiting risk or they will be found negligent in future legal representation.

Darren Manson

A ball travelling at speed meeting a head going the opposite direction is no small impact. Even a small bump can cause damage. I film football matches three to four times a week and have seen players hurt by heading the ball. It’s not a small matter.

Alison Marshall

If football players are much more likely to develop this awful condition, they were right to introduce these precautions. The research has been going on for a few years now. It is about protecting the brain. Logically.

Legal action

Business group Scottish Business UK is seeking to take legal action against the Scottish Government over its spending of public money on the case for independence.

Lawrie Ireland

It seems to me that the SNP often appear unable to tell the difference between public funds and their own, either collectively as a party or as individuals.

Valerie Ratcliffe

Surely they are public servants not employed to work on a party agenda to forward its own ends. £20 million is a lot of money to spend on something that may not have a solid outcome while people are needing so much help. It’s not the right time.

Dougie Milne

It’s not a party agenda though, is it? It was in the manifesto and they are therefore duty bound to enact it because they were voted in on that basis.

Alain Traynor

It should be the doctors, scientists and engineers taking up a cause against Sturgeon and her mob. The money is needed in our hospitals and infrastructure.

David Howie

Are the undemocratic anglo-British nationalists really suggesting that an elected government cannot spend money on a policy which was a major part of the manifesto on which they were elected?

James Thomas Kilpatrick

Good luck with suing a government on trying to implement a democratic mandate.

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