Football: Is the game more important than life and death?

Liverpool legend Bill Shankly once famously quoted that football is much more important than life or death and the recent happenings in the Premier League suggest no different with the players opting to continue even after suffering horrific concussions.

Though it sounds beautiful for a football fan as it calls out the bravery and passion in the game, a head clash in slow motion is not something that the same fans will enjoy. Unlike the “impact sports” like rugby and boxing, football is enjoyed mostly for those timely dribbles and the long rangers in the rain but the contact between players has been an unavoidable part in the beautiful game ever since its inception.

Hugo Lloris lying on the ground: A bigger game than life?

The concussion debate was reignited recently after Romelu Lukaku’s knee accidentally knocked out Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham’s goalless draw against Everton. But the worst part is that the Frenchman was allowed to continue on the pitch even after the incident.

Now there are two things to be pointed out at this moment:

1) A concussion is officially classified as a traumatic brain injury.

2) The Premier League handbook clearly says that “Any Player, whether engaged in a league match, any other match or in training, who having sustained a head injury leaves the field of play, shall not be allowed to resume playing or training (as the case may be) until he has been examined by a medical practitioner and declared fit to do so,”

For the record, Lloris was examined by the team’s medical staff but the eventual decision to continue was made by the player himself which has caused a whirlwind attack on the Premier League’s policy of handling such issues.

The fact that it is not an isolated incident adds much more heat to the flame. Lukaku himself was left unconscious on the pitch earlier this season after a head-to-head collision with Joey O’Brien of West Ham while scoring a goal. And the big Belgian recalled the incident after the match with some shocking revelations.

“Nothing. I didn’t even know that I’d scored. That was the first thing that I asked. I don’t remember anything, I had the knock and then I didn’t remember what happened,” he said.

Before Lukaku, another big man was also on the receiving end of the story when Alvaro Negredo’s knee took the consciousness of Robert Huth and in both situations the players were allowed to continue on the pitch much to the distress of their families.

You get a knee injury you still can go to the movies. You still can play video games. You still can remember things. This brain injury of concussions takes your life away- Taylor Twellman

The last time such a debate poked up was in 2007 when John Terry suffered a horrible head injury during the League Cup final against Arsenal. And the survey conducted as part of the protests clearly suggested that most of the Premier League teams fail to follow the International guidelines while handling such situations on the pitch.

The Americans have been widely criticized for the amount of concussions in the NFL but surprisingly their soccer league (MLS) is much more efficient than the Premier League when it comes to valuing the life of the players.

The MLS has a protocol to put its players through a baseline testing before the season to ensure that they are free of any symptoms. But the sad part is that none of the clubs around the world look up to the MLS for motivation, which clearly tells that the Premier League clubs are setting a dangerous precedent by allowing players to continue after a serious on-field injury.

As one of the most popular Leagues in the world, the BPL is entitled to show some responsibility for the players and their families and so far they have been failing to do so. It would be naïve to compare football with the NFL, but the players in both sports are humans with beating hearts and aching heads which should urge the clubs to follow the “better to be safe than sorry” policy.

But the thing with humans is that we never learn until something bad happens to us, so sadly till some player is seriously injured or dies from a concussion, the rule book is still going to carry “Until he has been examined by a medical practitioner and declared fit to do so,” part which leaves the players’ life to be juggled just for changing the outcome of a match.

And then the question arises again – Is the game more important than life and death as Bill Shankly said? For my selfishness of being a football fan, I would say yes. But the players have a family which breathes the air and embraces the sunlight, and for them football is never bigger than the life of their loved ones.