Alan Shearer claimed live on air that football should introduce temporary concussion substitutes after Nottingham Forest star Neco Williams was forced off for Wales against England last night.
The defender felt the full force of a Marcus Rashford shot and received treatment. He was allowed to continue but then collapsed to the turf dazed and in need of more treatment later on.
At that point, he was forced off, but this is becoming a problem in football. The game seriously doesn’t take head injuries seriously enough and something has to give.
Talk at half-time turned to the incident. Shearer believes that the powers that be must get with the times and introduce a new law regarding head injuries.
He told BBC Sport: “It has to come.
“I would say to the IFAB, ‘what on earth are you waiting for?’ because everyone is under pressure to make a decision.
“You’ve got the doctors and the physios on the pitch trying to buy a little more time.
“If they were able to take him off for 10 minutes, assess him, bring someone on and then make their mind up there rather than to be put under huge pressure on the pitch.
“What are they waiting for? Do it now.”
Shearer is passionate about this subject. He previously fronted a documentary titled ‘Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me’, in which he addressed the connection between football and dementia.
Shearer wants action on hot football topic and he’s spot on
Football has a horrible knack for being reactive rather than proactive and here we are again. Concussion substitutes are already in place in rugby so why not football?
Shearer is one of the most reputable pundits currently in the game. He’s been there, got the t-shirt and more often than not he’s extremely insightful.
Forest will have to assess Williams when he gets back to Nottingham. He was visibly distraught to see his World Cup end prematurely last night and it’s hard not to have sympathy for the player.
Football has to do more though. With a 10-minute substitute option in place last night, the decision might have been made that Williams was actually okay to continue.
Shearer has got this one bang on and football has to act.