Dementia footballers cash fight boost
Industrial injury rights a step closer
RETIRED footballers with dementia are a step closer to receiving special benefit payments.
SNP, Labour and Tory politicians have secured a summit to make their case directly to the UK Government and injury experts. Ex-footballers are much more likely to die of degenerative brain disease due to heading the ball, studies have found. And defenders are five times more likely to have dementia than non-footballers. Labour MSP Michael Marra has led a campaign, backed by Sir Alex Ferguson, calling on the Scottish Government to classify such cases as industrial injuries.
MPs have also put pressure on the UK Government to act through the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council, which advises on payments.
SNP MPs Chris Stephens and Ian Blackford, Labour’s Grahame Morris and Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross wrote to IIAC chair Dr Lesley Ruston highlighting the hardship many ex-footballers and their families face. They said: “There is a sense of urgency required in reaching a determination on these cases being characterised as industrial injuries.”
Dr Ruston agreed to a meeting, which will also be attended by the DWP.
Marra said: “As IIAC take the first steps in the right direction, it is time for the Scottish Government to accept that indisputable science, commit to providing the support that those ex-pros need and the process to deliver it.” It comes after Scotland hero Gordon McQueen, 70, passed away from dementia.
His brother Iain told the Record: “Gordon scored 30 or 40 goals in his career and the bulk of them were headers. Now you say, ‘Was it worth it?’”