Source: REUTERS/David W Cerny
[Saba Sports News] According to British media reports, the FA has opposed an investigation into the link between football and the causes of players’ deaths, which has raised questions from families and coroners, sparking controversy. The report states that the FA has faced criticism for opposing an investigation into whether football contributed to the death of former Middlesbrough defender Bill Gates. Gates passed away in October 2022 at the age of 79 and had suffered from a degenerative brain disease. However, the FA believes that expanding the investigation to include his football career is neither advisable nor proportionate, and certainly not necessary. In recent years, there has been an increasing number of post-mortem investigations into former professional footballers suffering from dementia. Many of these investigations concluded that these players died as a result of their work. The FA mentioned a separate civil lawsuit by the families of former footballers in the High Court, believing it would delve deeper into issues related to football, CTE, and dementia. However, the Gates family is not involved in that lawsuit. There are concerns that if the FA’s argument holds, it could limit future investigations into dementia-related deaths in football, thereby reducing the likelihood of industrial disease rulings.