► “We need to set a threshold around 18-20 years”
Jean Chazal, neurosurgeon
“The brain is a fragile organ. Athletes protect themselves with the muscles they put to work on a daily basis, but a number of organs, including the brain, cannot build muscle and stay as they are. The brain remains in a box protected by the same casing, regardless of the sport. In soccer, a header can lead to a micro-injury, albeit an anecdotal one. But repeating these mini-shocks can have long-term consequences.
Today it is estimated that the brain reaches full maturity around the age of 35, which is equivalent to the age at the end of an athlete’s career. We produce interconnects up to 25 years. Banning headers in football in general seems impossible, but one must be aware that the brain is all the more sensitive when the subject is young.
I would be in favor of setting a threshold. That around the age of 18-20 heads in football are prohibited. After all, in society, at a social or judicial level for example, there are transitional ages: you have to be 18 to vote because it is believed that this is the age in which the necessary maturity is acquired. In sports, it should be the same. Given the fragility of brains, there should also be a crucial age in sport. »
► “Better to monitor than to ban at all costs”
To Benjamin Bazehead of the SU Dives Cabourg football school
“I know in Scotland they have legislation banning heads before the age of 12. This is not the case in France yet. It is quite common that we question, due to scientific advances, what has been done before.
When I was young I knew a football where you could make headers and today I’m not doing badly. As an educator, it is difficult to teach a boy not to peep during the match: if the latter is in a position to score in this way, for example, how do you expect the message to be heard?
In my sessions I encourage young people to play football in their own right, but in training I don’t insist on this practice. Header game specific workshops, so to speak, are very sporadic. In a month of sessions, we could do a single rehearsal for heads. Furthermore, small children rarely put it into practice: on corners or set pieces, they generally prefer to set foot.
One way or another, we will always find reasons to change football. Legislating heads would be one of them and I don’t think it’s a good idea. It is necessary to supervise young people more medically than to prohibit at all costs. »
