Sports

Footballers At Higher Risk Of Dementia — Study

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2023

Top level Swedish football players — except for goalkeepers — were significantly more likely to develop dementia than the general public over the last century, a large study suggested on Friday.

Experts said the study adds to “convincing evidence” linking the world’s most popular sport to a higher risk of degenerative brain disorders, and comes as head injury controversies rumble throughout other codes such as rugby and the NFL.

While traumatic brain injuries like concussions may be less common in football than those sports, the repeated heading of the ball by footballers has previously been associated with dementia.

The new study, published in The Lancet Public Health journal, analysed the medical records of more than 6,000 male footballers in Sweden’s top division from 1924 to 2019.

The researchers compared their rates of a range of degenerative brain disorders to 56,000 similarly aged Swedish men.

The footballers were 1.5 times more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias than the control group, the study suggested.

An exception was goalkeepers, who rarely need to head the ball and did not show any increased likelihood of degenerative brain disorders.

“This finding lends support to the hypothesis that heading the ball might explain this association,” the study’s lead author Peter Ueda of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet told AFP.

Ueda said it was the largest research conducted on the subject since a 2019 Scottish study which suggested that footballers were 3.5 times more likely than to get degenerative brain disorders.

– ‘Protect people’s heads’ –
The Swedish study also found that footballers lived slightly longer than similarly aged men, which Ueda said could be related to the higher levels of exercise and socioeconomic status that come with being an elite footballer.

The study found no increased risk of motor neuron diseases such as ALS among the footballers, and a even slightly lower risk for Parkinson’s disease.

Ueda cautioned that the observational study was not able to show that playing football directly caused the dementia, and its findings could not be extended to female, amateur or youth football.

Because there is so much time between people playing football and the development of these brain disorders, many of the players covered by the study were active during the mid-20th century.

This means that better equipment, knowledge and training could have since made the game safer for modern professional players, Ueda said.

“But you can also speculate that contemporary players today are exposed to intense football from a very young age, so maybe the risk would even be higher among them,” he added.

Gill Livingston, professor in psychiatry of older people at the University College London, said the “high-quality paper” added to “convincing evidence” that footballers whose heads come in contact with the ball were at a higher risk of dementia.

“We need to act to protect people’s heads and brains and keep playing sport,” said Livingston, who was not involved in the research.

Research into head injuries in sport, and post-career side-effects, has recently exploded, notably in rugby union and rugby league.

Last year research indicated former international rugby players are 15 times more likely to develop motor neurone disease. A group of former rugby union players is suing various governing bodies for allegedly failing to protect them from permanent injury.

AFP

Sports

AC Milan Scrap Victor Boniface Transfer Over Failed Medical Tests

Published

9 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

AC Milan has called off its proposed transfer of Nigerian striker Victor Boniface from Bayer Leverkusen, claiming the player failed to pass mandatory medical examinations.

The deal, which had been verbally agreed upon with a €5 million loan fee and a €24 million buy option, fell through despite Boniface’s arrival in Milan within the last 48 hours.

The decision was confirmed by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, on Sunday.

“AC Milan call Victor Boniface deal off as Nigerian striker did not pass the medical tests,” Romano posted.

“Despite verbal agreement for €5m loan fee and €24m buy clause with player in Milano in the last 48h, deal called off due to medical. Boniface, returning in Germany today.”

According to reports, the 24-year-old Nigerian international had two anterior cruciate ligament operations and recurring groin problems that have affected his availability in recent seasons.

Milan are not the first Serie A club to have reservations about the striker’s fitness, with reports suggesting that Roma rejected a swap proposal involving Boniface and Ukrainian forward Artem Dovbyk several weeks ago due to similar concerns over the Nigerian’s condition.

Sports

Why I’ll Never Advise My Son To Visit Nigeria – Taribo West

Published

3 days ago

August 22, 2025

Editor

A former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, on Friday, berated the Nigeria Football Federation and Lagos State Government for allegedly abandoning the family of late goalkeeper, Peter Rufai.

Speaking at Rufai’s burial in a video posted by News Central on Friday, the ex-Inter Milan star expressed disappointment over what he described as the neglect of Nigerian football heroes after their death.

“It’s disheartening that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigerian Football Association. They drop the bulk on the family. I felt in my spirit that there is nothing to put your life for. That’s why I say I have to shift back so that I will not implode. It’s grieving.

“My mother passed on. I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands. I never shed tears. When Rufai passed on, I had goose pimples on my body. And every individual I’m speaking to, there were tears rolling down my cheeks. What kind of nation is this?” he said

The former international recalled similar situations with late football icons such as Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, and Thompson Oliha, stressing that the treatment of ex-players discouraged him from encouraging his children to serve the country through football.

“With this kind of example, I will never advise even my son to put his feet for this country. Send me out! Do we have a Football Federation or do we have a Football Association in this Lagos State? That this hero, this soldier, this football evangelist, has to be treated this way in his family.

“Could you imagine that the family would be crying just to solicit in within our groups to ask for money? That is madness. Look, please let me go. I don’t want to pour my heart,” he stated.

Rufai, fondly called “Dodo Mayana,” was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the country’s debut at the FIFA World Cup the same year.

He passed away in July 2025.

Sports

CHAN 2024: Top Scorers Ahead Of Quarter-final Fixtures

Published

5 days ago

August 20, 2025

Editor

Uganda’s Allan Okello and South Africa’s Thabiso Kutumela are currently joint top scorers at the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN), with three goals each as the tournament heads into the quarter-final stage.

The group stage concluded on Tuesday, with Sudan holding Senegal to a 0-0 draw to finish top of Group D, while Nigeria defeated Congo 2-0.

Here are the top scorers going into the CHAN quarter-finals:

Allan Okello (Uganda) – 3 goals
Thabiso Kutumela (South Africa) – 3 goals
Abdelrazig Omer (Sudan) – 2 goals
Kaporal (Angola) – 2 goals
Austin Odhiambo (Kenya) – 2 goals
Clement Mzize (Tanzania) – 2 goals
The quarter-final fixtures are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.