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Collision between USA and German players shows the fault in FIFA's concussion policy

One of the more brutal moments of the first half between the United States and Germany— other than Alex Morgan’s finishing — came during a German free kick when USA’s Morgan Brian and Germany’s Alexandra Popp collided while Brian was attempting to head the ball out of the U.S. box.

Both players went down, Popp with a bloody head and Brian clearly dazed. Both players were down for several minutes before medical personnel helped them to their feet.

This would be a good time to revisit FIFA’s concussion policy.

Oh, you’re still waiting?

Well, there isn’t really one, actually. After the FIFA Men’s World Cup last year, there was a meeting and a proposal was made on enhancing the concussion protocol. Here was the recommendation:

Under the proposal, whenever a suspected incident of concussion occurs, the referee will have the ability to stop the game for three minutes, allowing the relevant team doctor to complete an on-pitch assessment and decide if the player has suspected concussion. The referee will only allow the injured party to continue playing with the authorisation of the team doctor, who will have the final decision.

And this is pretty much what happened. Brian walked around, said she was fine. Popp had some water squirted on her bloody head, said she was fine and they continued on like nothing happened.

Definitely not the best way to handle a situation that has been medically proven to have possible longterm side effects, but apparently soccer’s concussion protocol hasn’t caught up to the other football’s stringent handling of concussed players. Yeah, the guys with helmets.

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