Fifa criticised by brain injury charity over World Cup semi-final incident

The phrase ‘workplace head injury’ probably conjures up in most people’s minds an incident in a factory or perhaps on a building site, not the football World Cup.  But the incident involving Argentina’s Javier Mascherano in the semi-final of the World Cup in Brazil, was just that.

The Argentinian midfielder collided with Georginio Wijnaldum when competing for a header during his side’s semi-final win over the Netherlands.  It was obvious to the many millions of spectators in the stadium and around the world that Mascherano was severely dazed after the incident, but after a brief spell off the pitch he was allowed to play on.

Brain injury charity Headway criticised Fifa, pointing out that this was the second incident of its kind.  Uruguay’s Alvaro Pereira suffered a similar injury against England earlier in the tournament and both players were allowed to continue playing.

A Headway spokesperson said: “On a big stage like the World Cup, it’s incredibly hard to understand how there could be two different players throughout the course of a tournament who have been allowed to continue when they have seemingly been knocked out or suffered a concussive injury,”

adding that there would need to be “some very serious questions asked of Fifa for how they have allowed this situation to happen.”

This raises some interesting and important question from a legal perspective in the area of head injuries. Some medical negligence solicitors may see these events as concerning and raise the question as to why the medical staff present at the football stadia allowed for these footballers to carry on.

Let’s not forget that highly paid footballers playing in high profile, global competitions are, in fact, doing their job in their workplace, which just happens   to be a highly charged, global arena, with the world’s media and millions of fans watching.

Referring again to the semi-final incident, Headway expressed the view:

“It cannot be that a player can make that decision – it has to be a medical decision and [doctors] have to be given the power to overrule both players and managers.”

Adding fuel to the debate, in the final, Germany’s Christoph Kramer was taken off with a head injury after 31 minutes, having played on for nearly 15 minutes, following a clash with Argentina’s Ezequiel Garay.

A brain injury is a brain injury.  If it happens as a result of negligence in the workplace, it is likely that there will be grounds for compensation – brain injury claims are already on the rise.  That applies whether the injured party is a professional footballer, a construction worker, or any employee.

The debate will continue, perhaps it is still in its infancy but still is a start.

Source: goal.com