Posted on by Adam Perry

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.’s forward Raúl Jiménez has successfully undergone surgery on a fractured skull following a clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz during Arsenal vs Wolves on Sunday.

In an update released on Monday morning, Wolverhampton Wanderers said: “Raúl is comfortable following an operation last night. He will remain under observation for a few days while he begins his recovery.”

The pair collided during an Arsenal corner kick in the 4th minute, with surrounding players immediately calling medical staff onto the pitch. Jiménez was put on oxygen and stretchered off before being taken to hospital.

Following the incident, David Luiz was put through the Premier League’s concussion protocol and was allowed to continue playing, accompanied by stitches and a large head bandage.


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He proceeded to play the remainder of the half before being removed due to the cut on his head opening up.

The incident has called into question the concussion protocols used in football and whether they are sufficiently protecting players in the event of a head injury.

Former England striker Alan Shearer on Match of the Day 2 said: “Football needs to get real, it needs to wake up, it needs to get serious. Not next year, not next month, not next week, now. This has been going on for far too long. The protocols for football are not acceptable.”

 

 

Jocelyn Gaynor, Head of Foundation for The Disabilities Trust, said to Raven: “[We] continue to urge the Football Association, and all sporting bodies, to take concussion seriously. We were concerned following Sunday’s match at the Emirates that the game continues to fall short on the concussion protocols implemented in other sports such as rugby and cricket.”

She continued: “Although concussions which occur during sporting activity form a small portion of total concussions, football’s high public profile means that how sporting bodies address concussion has a huge impact on the public perception of concussion occurring elsewhere.”

Former England rugby player Michael Lipman recently highlighted the dangers surrounding concussions to the Sydney Morning Herald. The 40-year-old confirmed that he suffers from mild dementia as a result of multiple concussions sustained during his playing career.

Since his retirement in 2012, new protocols have been introduced in rugby which prevent a player who has suffered multiple head knocks in a six-month period from playing for the following six months.

In 2019 the International Cricket Council (ICC) implemented a rule allowing for a “Concussion Replacement” who would be approved by a match referee.

The rule was successfully used for the first-time, days after its introduction, with Australia’s Steve Smith being ruled out of an Ashes Test match due to concussion and being replaced by Marnus Labuschagne.

There have been talks of a concussion substitute rule being introduced in football by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in early 2021 for any leagues who are willing to trial it, with suggestions of the FA Cup being its first use in English football. 

(Top photo by Adam Perry)