What’s kicking

What’s kicking

When footballers use their head to ram a ball moving at high speed, their brain cries.

Sport is entertainment. Part of this pleasure comes from seeing other people put themselves in danger. It’s the instinct carried over from centuries ago, when the Roman empire used to delight in gory gladiatorial combat. Today when a boxer bloodies his opponent’s nose or gives him a black eye, the adrenaline races in our veins. Or take the exhilaration of watching Formula 1, where mortal danger is amplified by the deafening roar of turbocharged engines. But these are the dangers visible to our naked eye. Too many aren’t.

Take football, which by virtue of being the most popular sport in the world, can also claim to be the most entertaining. But at what cost? What are the perilous seas young players are unknowingly entering? The issue got the spotlight after American footballer Andrew Luck’s shock retirement earlier this year. At just 29, the superstar quarterback found his body wrecked by an unrelenting cycle of injury-painrehab. But even in the midst of intense medical scrutiny it is injuries to the brain that can remain unattended. Every time players crash into each other, helmet grinding sickeningly against helmet; or those without helmets thump the ball with a martial header.

The collisions and concussions that are the lifeblood of contact sports have very ugly side effects. Some years ago Indian footballer Mahesh Thapa died after an on-field collision. Now sports leagues are multiplying across the country but the data scarcity sapping other spheres is a problem here too. Still, international data is clear that repetitive head injuries cause memory loss, dementia, and the degenerative brain disease CTE. The younger the player the greater the vulnerability – which certainly puts a different gloss on the phrase ‘catch ’em young’. The thing is, Roman gladiators were often slaves. Modern sportspersons aren’t. Sports should be about brightening their future not blighting it.