When Sir Alex Ferguson speaks, people tend to listen. Which is why the Aberdeen and Manchester United legend’s intervention into the issue of football-related brain injuries cannot be underestimated.
He is one of four ex-Scotland managers to call for retired players suffering from dementia to receive help through the devolved social security system.
Sir Alex is among 30 ex-professionals who are demanding that brain damage caused by heading the ball is classed as an industrial injury.
It comes just days after the death of Scotland hero Gordon McQueen, 70, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2021.
If the campaign is successful, it would see players with football-related brain injuries qualify for benefit payments and would have an incredibly positive impact on ex-professionals and their families.
Not all players made a fortune during their relatively short careers, which is why an intervention from someone like Sir Alex is so welcome.
A 2019 study by Glasgow University professor Willie Stewart found that former footballers were about three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative brain disease than members of the general population.
We’re long past the stage where the footballing authorities have to start taking this issue seriously. Some steps have been taken but we’re long away from the changes we need.
Labour MSP Michael Marra, who has led a campaign on industrial injuries, deserves credit for keeping the campaign in the public eye.
Let’s hope the combined influence of 30 former professionals – many of them household names – makes the difference in getting players the recognition they deserve.
The Brexit bus promise of an extra £350million a week for the NHS if we voted to leave the European Union has long been since exposed as a lie.
But not only was there no huge cash injection to bail out the struggling NHS, Brexit ruined any hope of getting back on track by causing massive staff shortages.
Fewer EU care workers, nurses and doctors coming into the country to prop up our medical services has, in part, created longer waiting lists at our hospital front doors. While the problem is not entirely down to Brexit, there is no doubt it is a major factor.
The EU exit has also led to delays in getting much-needed medicines and puts us at the bottom of the queue for groundbreaking new treatments and technologies developed abroad.
The architects of Brexit are disappearing but the ramifications of their lies will be felt for generations.
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