Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish Government claims industrial injury football classification at hands of Westminster

A link between former players and head injuries has been proven. Picture shows England's Stan Pearson and Scotland's Bobby Evans and George Young.

The Scottish Government’s decision to say they could not brand head trauma acquired by professional footballers’ an “industrial injury” because of Westminster has been branded “bizarre”.

Members debated the impact of brain injury caused by heading footballs by former professionals for the first time on Tuesday evening, following a debate brought forward by Dundee-based Labour MSP Michael Marra.

Mr Marra called on the Scottish Government to classify neurological conditions suffered by ex-players as “industrial injuries”, as part of a growing campaign involving community champion Amanda Kopel and former Celtic player Chris Sutton.

Amanda Kopel at Tannadice during the Frank’s Law campaign.

Mrs Kopel, whose husband Frank played professionally for Dundee United, campaigned tirelessly for an extension to free care for under 65s after her beloved partner was diagnosed with early onset dementia.

The campaign, which became known as Frank’s Law and supported by this paper, was successful, with care extended to younger sufferers from 2019.

Injury Time campaigners used the Dundee derby to highlight their cause.

Her passionate advocacy was mentioned during the debate by Mr Marra.

“Amanda nursed Frankie through dementia, and fought for justice for those who suffered as he did. And she cradled Frank in her arms as he breathed his last,” he said.

“Many families of household names choose to preserve their privacy, to maintain their public dignity when dementia has stripped them of so much.

“And then there are those whose names would not command headlines but who played, entertained, loved the game and who now suffer.”

He added: “This is undoubtedly, indisputably, industrial injury.

Scottish Labour’s Michael Marra

“I hope the Scottish Government recognises this and we can start the work of getting these men and their families the support they deserve.”

Members of other parties welcomed the debate, with North East Scottish Conservative Maurice Golden calling for further research.

He said: “I would be very supportive of the establishment of a working group to consider the issues around brain injury and dementia and I would be particularly supportive of including the grassroots game.

Maurice Golden, Scottish Conservatives.

“In terms of classifying brain injury in football as an industrial injury – this is an area I would like to see more detail on – particularly the nuances and impacts on the lower levels of the professional, semi-professional and junior game – all of whom who have players contracted and remunerated for playing the game.”

Issue reserved

Public Health minister Maree Todd, responding, said the Scottish Government was working with the SFA and other partners on developing guidelines around dementia in sport.

She said the government could not classify footballing injuries as “industrial” when considering Scottish Social Security legislation, because the matter was reserved to Westminster.

She described the issue of brain injuries among former sportsmen and women as being both “important” and “complicated”.

Maree Todd, SNP

“Unfortunately, the industrial injuries disablement benefit is still currently delivered by the UK Government, and I understand they do not consider dementia an industrial injury.

“It will be delivered by the Scottish Government in the future. When it is, which will be after a full public consultation on people’s needs…we are in Scotland taking a civic national approach within public health and brain health services.”

‘Bizarre’

Following the debate, Mr Marra added: “These decisions are currently taken in London because the SNP asked them to be.

“The powers are legally devolved and the Scottish Government could act whenever they choose to do so. To say that their hands are tied is completely false and more than a little bizarre.”