Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has admitted he doesn’t allow his son to head footballs. Heading has become a hot topic in sports in recent years, as more and more research is conducted on the issue. The American Football Federation has children prohibited under 11s against footballs. Youth players aged 11 to 12 can also only use their heads up to 20 times per week during training.
However, there is no limit to participating in official matches among young people in this specific age group. In England, where Varane now resides, there are currently tests in progress regarding the question. Officials with the European nation are in the second year of a lawsuit seeking to ban players under the age of 12 from management.
Varane spoke on the theme of the title, among other things, during a recent interview with The Team. “My 7-year-old son plays football and I advise him not to head the ball,” claimed the Red Devils defender.
“Even if it does not cause immediate trauma, we know that in the long term, repeated shocks are likely to have harmful effects. I don’t know if I’ll live to be 100, but I know I’ve damaged my body.
Varane says he missed one match this season due to ‘micro-concussion’
Varane’s comments regarding his son come as the star admitted playing for club and country while suffering the effects of head injuries. The central defender claimed he suffered a concussion during a match with Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup.
Despite his injury, the Frenchman reached the round of 16 in his country’s 2-0 victory. Varane then played a full 90 minutes against Germany only a few days later. France was ultimately eliminated from the tournament by the Germans in the quarter-finals. If he managed to play both matches, Varane says he was on “autopilot” on the pitch.
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The 30-year-old defender also claimed to have missed a match earlier this season while with United due to “micro-concussions” caused by headbutts. The central defender did not specify which matches he missed due to a head injury.
Varane has not been named in manager Erik ten Hag’s squad for a total of seven matches this season. Ten Hag had previously only called one of Varane’s injuries “minor problem.” The defender also missed a match with Western Ham because of an illness.
“The first time I heard about (micro-concussions) was this season when specialists came to talk to us about it,” Varane continued. “Often, as a player, we don’t understand and we don’t even think about doing a test.”
“Earlier this season I headed the ball several times during a match for Man United and felt unusually tired the following days, as well as some eye strain. I reported this to the staff, who strongly recommended that I not play, and I took a test, which caused me to miss the next game.
The brain only completes its development when a person reaches their 20s
Banning young players from heading certainly seems like a good decision. As more research is conducted, repeated head trauma has been shown to be one of the leading causes of encephalopathy (CTE). This debilitating brain disease is quite common among National Football League stars. However, retired footballers also face similar problems.
Teaching youngsters to defend without heading the ball can certainly be a difficult task. Still, it’s a small price to pay for the health and safety of children playing the sport. Additional research has shown that the human brain doesn’t fully develop until the mid-to-late 20s. The part of the brain directly behind the forehead, which players use to head soccer balls, is one of the last parts to mature.
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