About fifty former practitioners seized the international, English and Welsh federations on Thursday in anticipation of a possible trial, believing that these authorities did not do enough to protect them.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
The question of concussion in rugby takes on a new magnitude in the United Kingdom. Thursday, January 19, the London law firm Rylands Garth said that fifty former players seized World Rugby, the International Federation, as well as the English and Welsh authorities in anticipation of a possible trial. They believe that these federations did not do enough to protect them from concussion. And intend to get damages for themselves and their families as well as trying to make rugby less dangerous in the future.
In this group are several former retired internationals, elite players who have practiced rugby that he became professional, in 1995, players who have evolved in the categories of young people and the family of a dead player of a chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
According to Richard Boardman, from Rylands Garth, “no matter the level of play you played or play, whether at school or adult, as a professional or amateur, man or woman, we unfortunately see The same alarming neurological deficiencies at all levels of the game “. For the British lawyer, it is “a question of life or death for many”.
Early dementia
The Rylands Garth cabinet, which has seized this subject, already represents more than 275 former professional sportsmen with concussion. Among them are the Englishman Steve Thompson, former hooker of Brive winner of the 2003 rugby world cup with the XV of the rose, who said that he suffers from early dementia, and Ryan Jones, former captain of the country of Wales. In September 2021, interview with the BBC , Steve Thompson announced his choice to bequeath his brain to science after his death to promote research on the subject.
According to a study published in October by the University of Glasgow, former rugby internationals have more and a half risks than the general population to develop neurodegenerative diseases. In an open letter published Wednesday, January 18, the Englishman Bill Beaumont, president of World Rugby, announced that the year 2023 would be “marked by independent research and evaluated by peers around [] Studies on the Dental Protesses intelligent “. According to Mr. Beaumont “These data will allow you to better understand the game (…) and will serve as a basis for new advances in matters of [the game], protocols and directives in favor of well-being” of players.