The Football Association is extending its experiment of removing heading from games involving children up to age 12 into a second season in what has been described as a “landmark” trial.
After gaining approval from IFAB, football’s rule makers, the FA launched the trial last summer and has had more than 83,000 players across 60 leagues around the country involved.
The initial hope was that after gathering evidence for one season deliberate heading could be permanently banned from games involving Under 12s and below. IFAB must first approve any rule change before it becomes enshrined in the game’s laws.
However, following feedback from participants the FA has decided to extend the trial for a further season before presenting the findings of its research to IFAB’s assessors. If accepted, heading could be outlawed for children’s games around the world from the start of the 2024-25 season, in what would be a major shift in football’s relationship to heading.
The FA has already created guidance advising against heading in training for the same age groups, while it also recommends limiting heading sessions for teenagers and adults, in grassroots and elite football.
Academic studies are increasingly evidencing the link between heading footballs and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2019, a FIELD study suggested footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than members of the population of the same age.
A further study in 2021 found goalkeepers were at no greater risk than the general population, but outfield players were four times as likely and defenders five times, again pointing to a correlation between heading footballs and problems.
Nonetheless, doctors and scientists cautioning against heading in football have been met with resistance in other parts of the global game.
“There were a number of reasons why we wanted to introduce the trial,” the FA’s director of football development, James Kendall, said.
“We would like to help mitigate against any potential risks that may be linked to heading the ball, including injuries from head-to-head, elbow-to-head, or head-to-ground contact. We feel that it’s important to take a cautious approach at this level of the game whilst ongoing research continues in this area.
“Additionally, we also felt that it was important to bring matches across these age groups in line with our current heading guidance for training, which recommends that heading is removed or restricted at this level. We also continue to believe that reducing heading at this level can help to support the development of young players who are learning to improve their technical ability with the ball at their feet.”
The heading-free rules will be tweaked next season for all those teams involved following feedback from those who took part. If a player deliberately heads the ball during a game an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposition team.
From next season, however, if a player deliberately heads the ball inside their own penalty area the indirect free kick will be taken “from the nearest side line of the penalty area where the offence took place”, according to the new wording. It was previously taken from the penalty spot.
Children’s football is commonly played in smaller-sided games on small pitches with small goals, compared to teenage and adult 11-a-side matches. One parent i spoke to said they felt it was unnecessary for children to head the ball in small-sided games.
“We would encourage as many leagues, clubs and schools as possible to take part in the second year of the trial next season – and the details of how they can sign up have been sent to the County FAs and the Leagues,” Kendall added.
“We truly believe that this trial is helping to positively shape the game at this level, and we look forward to working with them during the second phase of the trial in the 2023-24 season.
“It has been a huge team effort and it’s been a landmark trial for English and international football. We are grateful to everyone involved from the start, including players, coaches, parents, guardians, volunteers, referees, leagues, clubs and administrators.”
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