--- title: Playing Soccer With Concussions Is Dangerous description: Athletes should not play after head injuries canonical: https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/ author: Michael Lemonick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-14T15:50:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:54:23.929Z article:section: Health og:title: Playing Soccer With Concussions Is Dangerous og:description: Athletes should not play after head injuries og:url: https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aab8d0ecb4e967e/69869b97e53aba6fdc4d38ea/fifa-concussion-world-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4748 og:image:height: 2671 og:image:alt: Christoph Kramer of Germany receives a medical treatment during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Playing Soccer With Concussions Is Dangerous twitter:description: Athletes should not play after head injuries twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aab8d0ecb4e967e/69869b97e53aba6fdc4d38ea/fifa-concussion-world-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Athletes Should Not Play With Head Injuries, Say Doctors > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Jul 14, 2014 3:50 PM UTC  Christoph Kramer of Germany receives a medical treatment during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. Christoph Kramer of Germany receives a medical treatment during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. Shaun Botterill—FIFA/Getty Images by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Jul 14, 2014 3:50 PM UTC Germany’s decision to let midfield Christof Kramer keep playing in the World Cup final yesterday after being slammed in the head was understandable—if this were [1962](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827288,00.html), anyway. Back then, a little concussion wasn’t seen as much of a big deal. That’s not true anymore, and given the fact that everyone from [kids’ coaches](http://healthland.time.com/2013/10/27/kids-with-concussions-should-take-a-timeout-from-school/) to the NFL ([if grudgingly](http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/10/07/new-book-and-pbs-documentary-details-nfls-concussion-denial/)) recognize that even mild head injuries can have [serious consequences](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2043395%5F2043506%5F2043494,00.html), that decision looks close to insane—especially given that Kramer “looked as if he was on another planet and had to be helped off the field,” as [TIME’s Bill Saporito observed](looked%20as if he was on another planet and had to be helped off the field). Of course, it’s possible that the German team didn’t realize that this sort of thing can cause[ permanent brain damage](http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/06/derek-boogaard-another-athlete-claimed-by-brain-damage/). Or maybe they think that what applies to American football is irrelevant to _real_ football. Except that studies have shown that soccer players are [equally at risk](http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/13/study-soccer-players-without-concussions-still-have-brain-changes/). Clearly, they didn’t read the [editorial in ](http://www.sciencenewsline.com/summary/2014071323590009.html)[_The Lancet Neurology_](http://www.sciencenewsline.com/summary/2014071323590009.html)published the day before the game reminding coaches and team officials that “cerebral concussion is the most common form of sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the long-term effects of repeated concussions may include dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other neurological disorders.” The decision to let players continue in a game, wrote these learned medical experts, should be made solely by doctors. It turns out that FIFA doesn’t have any clear rules about what to do in case a player suffers an apparent concussion. But the fact that Kramer stayed in the game, no matter how important a World Cup final match might be, was at best highly questionable. “I can’t remember very much but it doesn’t matter now,” the dazed player reportedly said after the game was over. If the medical professionals are right about how serious concussions can be, Kramer and his teammates might well have a different take on things a few years down the road. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/"},"headline":"Athletes Should Not Play With Head Injuries, Say Doctors","datePublished":"2014-07-14T15:50:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:23.929Z","description":"Athletes should not play after head injuries","url":"https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness","traumatic brain injury","Research","Concussion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aab8d0ecb4e967e/69869b97e53aba6fdc4d38ea/fifa-concussion-world-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Lemonick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aab8d0ecb4e967e/69869b97e53aba6fdc4d38ea/fifa-concussion-world-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Christoph Kramer of Germany receives a medical treatment during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro.","caption":"Christoph Kramer of Germany receives a medical treatment during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro.","creditText":"Shaun Botterill—FIFA/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2979394/athletes-should-not-play-with-head-injuries-say-doctors/","name":"Athletes Should Not Play With Head Injuries, Say Doctors"}}]}] ```