Automatic game stoppages for head injuries needs to be reworked

Shane88

Actually Nostradamus
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This edict was brought in for player welfare but the vast majority of its usage is players using it for "dark arts" nonsense. Be it time wasting, exaggerating injury to get a player booked or simply stopping a match to kill a team's momentum.

Fulham did it twice today. Pereira ran into De Ligt's shoulder and it barely kissed his face and he was down for 2 minutes, absurd, and Andersen went down holding his face when Obi's arm brushed near his neck to win a free kick.

Keep treating head injuries seriously but make it so that if a player is taking the piss with it, their team will be at a serious disadvantage because of them. Rugby has the HIA (Head Injury Assessment) and the NFL has the blue tent where players are taken for an examination. If a football player has a head injury, they are examined by a Premier League appointed independent medical professional (because team physios are increasingly becoming facilitators of shithousing as you see them peeking at refs and whispering to players to stay down).

You want to go down screaming because a finger grazed your cheek? Then off you go for a thorough 5/10 minute examination while your team struggles on without you.
 
I actually overheard the bloke behind me saying something very similar at the game today.

They took the mick with it today, no question.
 
I'm of the opinion that the game should carry on if a player is down and only stopped it if they need to be stretchered off. If you're just lying on the ground, tough shit you're still active for offsides, if you're receiving treatment you're no longer active for offside.

The given rule to put the ball out of play was there when there was at least some kind of sportsmanship and teams didn't flop about and lie on the ground for tactical breaks and water breaks. It's become a blight on the game and needs to be stamped out.

Players who go down holding their heads or face, automatic substitute for HIA and they can't come back on until they've had a full CT scan and been cleared to play by a proper doctor in a hospital through the public healthcare system. Just to make sure they are ok and that light brush to the face didn't fracture their skull. They should be back playing in 12 to 18 months.
 
Let the independent doctor come on to the pitch whilst the game continues.

If the ref decides they're effecting the game, give them the discretion to stop play or not.
 
I think there should be retrospective bans for faking head injuries. Or yellows if VAR catches them doing it quite obviously at the time.
 
Shane88 said:
This edict was brought in for player welfare but the vast majority of its usage is players using it for "dark arts" nonsense. Be it time wasting, exaggerating injury to get a player booked or simply stopping a match to kill a team's momentum.

Fulham did it twice today. Pereira ran into De Ligt's shoulder and it barely kissed his face and he was down for 2 minutes, absurd, and Andersen went down holding his face when Obi's arm brushed near his neck to win a free kick.

Keep treating head injuries seriously but make it so that if a player is taking the piss with it, their team will be at a serious disadvantage because of them. Rugby has the HIA (Head Injury Assessment) and the NFL has the blue tent where players are taken for an examination. If a football player has a head injury, they are examined by a Premier League appointed independent medical professional (because team physios are increasingly becoming facilitators of shithousing as you see them peeking at refs and whispering to players to stay down).

You want to go down screaming because a finger grazed your cheek? Then off you go for a thorough 5/10 minute examination while your team struggles on without you.
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This doesn't work though because it punishes scenarios where a player has genuinely hurt their head, but not too badly that they can't carry on after a minute or two. Say de Ligt heads a ball clear and the opposition striker accidentally headbutts de Ligt whilst competing for it. De Ligt would then have to go off for 10 minutes through no fault of his own.
 
Retrospective bans for faking any type of injury should be the solution, would cut it out immediately
 
Solius said:
I think there should be retrospective bans for faking head injuries. Or yellows if VAR catches them doing it quite obviously at the time.
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FriedClams said:
Retrospective bans for faking any type of injury should be the solution, would cut it out immediately
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That’s my first thought. Although hard to enforce, as it is possible that what looks like a very minor contact could actually be painful. Finger in the eye or something like that.

One thing’s for sure, football is unique amongst team sports for grown men screaming, crying and rolling around after the most trivial of “injuries”. Anything which can do anything to change this gets my vote.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
That’s my first thought. Although hard to enforce, as it is possible that what looks like a very minor contact could actually be painful. Finger in the eye or something like that.

One thing’s for sure, football is unique amongst team sports for grown men screaming, crying and rolling around after the most trivial of “injuries”. Anything which can do anything to change this gets my vote.
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I think they could only use it in egregious scenarios like this:

 
Pogue Mahone said:
To be fair, O’Shea was booked at the time. But yeah, that’s definitely an example of an easy one to punish.
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He was only booked for his reaction to Hojlund lifting him up. A classic ref cop-out of booking both players involved because they've not got a clue.
 
Player should have to spend 2 mins off the pitch. That'll ensure the medic does all the necessary checks to make sure they're right to go back on the pitch.
 
Oranges038 said:
I'm of the opinion that the game should carry on if a player is down and only stopped it if they need to be stretchered off. If you're just lying on the ground, tough shit you're still active for offsides, if you're receiving treatment you're no longer active for offside.
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Seems less than ideal if someone has a concussion.
 
I think when the whistle goes everyone should freeze. You move you get carded. That will stop all this nonsense plus any other nonsense like taking someone down purposefully. They say it's a clever yellow card and the whole team gets into defensive shape and the chance is gone. Everyone should freeze and start where the were
 
Ice hockey has a good rule with penalties for Embelishment, aka making shit up. Would be amazing if that could be adopted into the game of football.
 
Acrobat7 said:
Seems less than ideal if someone has a concussion.
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How often does it happen that a player needs to go off with a serious head injury or need to be stretchered off?

There used to be a level of sportsmanship where a player would go down only if seriously injured and the ball would be put out of play.

It's too prevalent now, it's become tactical to slow the game down and let teams reset and reorganise.

Something needs to be done, I'd have no problem with the game proceeding and only being stopped if a player needs lengthy treatment on the pitch & needs to be stretchered off.
 
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