A class action complaint on behalf of current and former soccer players has been filed against the FIFA, the sport's international governing body, along with other U.S.-based soccer associations, for the alleged failure to adopt effective policies to evaluate and manage concussions.
Filed in United States District Court in California, the suit also names American soccer organizations, including U.S. Soccer and the American Youth Soccer Organization, charging that they and FIFA have been negligent in monitoring and treating head injuries.
The plaintiffs do not seek monetary damages but looking to change the rules of the sport of soccer and to establish a medical monitoring program. The changes include an alteration to FIFA’s substitution protocols as well as limiting headers for children. The N.F.L., the N.H.L. and the N.C.A.A. are also involved in concussion litigation.
"There is an epidemic of concussion injuries in soccer at all levels around the world, including in the United States, from youth to professionals, from elite players to children playing for the first time, women and men, girls and boys,” the filing reads. “FIFA presides over this epidemic and is one of its primary causes.”
Children under 17 would be limited in how many times they could head the ball. The suit also seeks to require professional and other advanced leagues, which are currently limited to three substitutions a game, to allow temporary substitutions while a player is examined for a head injury. Medical testing would also be available for soccer players who competed as long ago as 2002 and are now coping with the effects of concussions.
