Major League Soccer has said it “strongly disagrees” with the International Football Association Board (IFAB)’s decision to deny a trial of temporary concussion substitutes.
IFAB, soccer’s lawmakers, met in London on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues including the idea of temporary concussion substitutes.
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But, despite the proposal having the backing of the Premier League, English FA, FIFPro and Ligue 1, IFAB said it would not yet support a trial.
MLS has also previously been a strong proponent of introducing temporary concussion substitutes and a statement from the league on Thursday said: “MLS strongly disagrees with The IFAB’s decision to deny the provisional trial of temporary concussion substitutes.
“The health and well-being of our players is of critical importance to MLS and our petition to implement the trial is based on advice of our medical experts and a recognition of evolving science on how to identify and diagnose head injuries.
“The trial would provide expanded time for medical professionals to properly assess players who are suspected of having suffered a head injury and for players to recognize and report symptoms, while providing teams the ability to use a temporary substitute during the evaluation period.
“The meeting at The IFAB Annual Business Meeting followed months of ongoing discussions and collaboration between MLS and a broad coalition of leaders in our sport, including the MLS Players Association, U.S. Soccer, the World Leagues Forum, FIFPRO, the English Premier League, French Ligue de Football Professionnel, and others.
“MLS will evaluate next steps following The IFAB’s decision and continue to work with the coalition from around the world who share our goals.”
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IFAB did, though, agree to strengthen the application of the permanent model, with the temporary substitutes remaining under active review.
Permanent concussion substitutes were first introduced by IFAB initially on a trial in January 2021, and have remained in soccer since.
But IFAB has routinely been criticised over the past two years for its reluctance to move to a temporary substitutions system for cases of concussion or suspected concussion.
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The rules were most recently under scrutiny at the World Cup, when Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand sustained a head injury in a group match against England. Beiranvand was initially allowed to play on, before then having to be substituted and later missing Iran’s next game due to the concussion protocols.
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(Photo: Getty Images)