The gaps of concussion policy in soccer: A visual review

Abstract

Concussion evaluation and treatment has been widely less widely publicized in soccer vs American football. However, a recent assessment found that in the previous FIFA World Cup in 2014, 63% of events when players involved in head collisions were not assessed by sideline healthcare personnel within the 64 matches of the tournament. The upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup should be approached with a more critical eye in order to improve the rate of concussion assessment in head collisions. US Soccer National Team's Concussion policy “players who are suspected of having sustained a concussion shall be removed from play immediately and evaluated by team medical staff.” Not all head collisions are required to be examined and a physician is not required to perform the sideline evaluation. Since the start of the 2018 Major League Soccer season, at least 2 incidents of concussion diagnosis were instances which an initial evaluation allowed the player to return to play when a concussion diagnosis was made later. A detailed examination of professional soccer both on the American and World stage exposes gaps in concussion policy that must be addressed to improve the approach to athlete brain health.