FIFA is being urged by the FIFPro players union to change its rules
over concussion after Uruguay’s Alvaro Pereira continued playing after he was knocked unconscious
during the World Cup Group D match with England. The union wants players suspected of being
concussed to be temporarily substituted so they can be assessed by doctors. FIFPro criticizes that FIFA
failed to protect the 28-year-old midfielder and wants its own medical team at games to make
assessments.
Admitting that he was briefly unconscious, Pereira insisted he had wanted to continue after
arguing with his team doctor. “I said sorry a thousand times to the doctor because I was dizzy,” the Sao
Paulo player said. “It was that moment with your adrenaline flowing in your body, maybe without thinking
what I really wanted to do was to help get the result. “What really matters is that everything is okay.
Nothing happened. It was just a scare.”
This article was republished with permission from Karl-Heinz Huba, the editor and publisher of the Sport Intern.