The English Football Association said on Monday it has received approval to experiment with the elimination of intentional headshots in under-12 matches, as it seeks to mitigate potential health risks and the chances of developing dementia.
The experiment will continue during the 2022/2023 season, with a view to completely canceling intentional headshots during the 2023/2024 season if the experiment is successful.
And the FA had already issued guidelines earlier either to limit or cancel headshots during training. The trial was approved by the International Football Association Board, which is responsible for enacting the laws of the game.
Studies have linked head blows to chronic brain injury, highlighting this problem following identifying five players from the England team that won the 1966 World Cup from dementia.
It even came to the point that a software company, which was working with Premier League clubs, developed a virtual reality training program in an attempt to find a solution to overcome the harmful effect of headshots.
