The Rosarina Football Association, which operates the sport in Rosario, an area near Buenos Aires, Argentina, will ban header display in the soccer category for children, up to the age of 11, something that is already happening in the minor leagues in the United States. . Justification has been provided by scientific studies conducted in the UK, which have linked head blows to brain injury.
Mario Giamaria, AFC President, explained that the proposal targets only the health of sports practitioners: “The objectives proposed by Associação Rosarina with this new regulation, adapted to the field of children’s football, are to prevent injuries and concussions. It is linked to a common practice in football. Such as the head-ball effect. The aim is to avoid possible medium and long-term damage to the neurological and cognitive development of athletes due to the cumulative effects of the head. The experience of participating in competitions in the United States, where this procedure was already implemented in 2015. Football teams had to For children we have to adapt to this regulation.”
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The ban on the initial divisions was incorporated into other divisions already proposed by the entity, such as the abolition of the offside rule, the reduction of fields, the use of special balls and mandatory substitutes, as well as the creation of mixed football.
The ARF still believes that the innovative measure will serve as a model for other entities: “We believe that this is an innovative procedure that we will see over the years if it is successful. Other associations are adopting it around the world and Rosarina will be the first to implement it at the national and South American level.”
