FA

Raúl Jiménez survived a major traumatic brain injury and skull fracture. At the World Cup, he wore a strip of padded head protection described in media coverage as "medically approved" and "medically mandated"; then continued playing without it. Judith McMinn asks what football is teaching millions of players and parents about what head protection means in sport.

Five years after Rezon set out to distinguish head protection from brain protection, the science, legal pressure and player welfare conversation all point in the same direction: sport must move from reacting to concussion to reducing force transmission before injury occurs.

Robert Sanchez wearing a rugby headguard in the FA Cup final shows how football still confuses permitted equipment, scalp protection and real brain protection.

The FA has denied a proven link between heading, repeated head impacts and long-term brain damage. But “no proof” is not a player welfare strategy. The science now points to cumulative exposure, rotational forces and prevention.