The research project, which is jointly funded by the Professional Footballers’ Association, will be led by Dr Willie Stewart and titled 'Football's Influence on Lifelong Health and Dementia Risk'.
Peter McCabe, Chief Executive of Headway – the brain injury association, said: “For years we have been calling on football authorities to initiate this research, and while we welcome the fact that action is finally being taken, it should never have taken so long to get to this point.
“We hope that this research will finally provide some answers to families who for too long have been fighting to gain a better understanding of whether or not their loved ones’ dementia was caused by heading a football.
“Equally, players – and indeed parents – deserve answers on the question of whether or not they are at risk from today’s lightweight footballs, and we question whether or not this study will be able to provide any meaningful insight into this.”
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