, are calling for fundamental change to football, including a programme of education to protect current and future players. CTE is a neurological disease associated with repeated head impacts that can only be diagnosed after a person's death. The families also want an industry-wide care fund that will provide care costs for the many families living with a disease that they say was caused by their job as a professional footballer. 'These proposed legal proceedings are a part of this overall campaign for justice for the victims, like Dad, and for fundamental change in an industry that continues to cause the death and illness of thousands of players, professional and amateur, men and women, every year,' said Nobby's son, John Stiles. Th){kind=link}
Families want industry-wide care fund to provide care costs for the many families living with a disease that they say is caused by playing
The family of World Cup hero Nobby Stiles have joined a 30-strong legal action against the football authorities, including the Football Association, for alleged negligence over brain injuries.
Notice of a forthcoming ‘letter of claim’ has been served on behalf of professional players against the FA, the Football Association of Wales and the International Football Association Board which claims that they have failed to take reasonable action to protect players from repetitive blows to the head.
Research has shown that former professional footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of dementia than the general population and the governing bodies are accused of multiple failures, notably in not reducing or monitoring the heading load, and not implementing appropriate concussion protocols.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport, warnings over football’s potential dementia link date back to the 1990s. An inquest also found in 2002 that the former England forward Jeff Astle had died of industrial disease caused by repetitive blows to the head as a footballer.