Loris Karius’ Concussion Report Reveals A Need for Reform
On May 26, 2018, a young 24-year-old German pulled on the gloves for Liverpool playing in the Champions League final, arguably the pinnacle of European Club soccer. With millions of watching eyes worldwide, Loris Karius made two inexcusable errors for a goalkeeper playing at the highest level of football (soccer). Losing the final 3-1, Liverpool fans, split on their opinion of the German, provided either emotional support or harsh threats towards Loris Karius.
However, on tactical replays, fans and pundits found Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid Defender) had elbowed Karius in the head two minutes before the first mistake leading to Karim Benzema’s first goal. Despite Ramos bringing down Mohamed Salah earlier on in the match as well, Ramos claims that neither of the altercations was intentional. The Spaniard does have a track record of crazy tackles, verbal fights, and currently - somewhat proudly - holds the most red cards in La Liga history. Whether or not Ramos' actions were intentional, tests conducted by the Massachusetts General Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts concluded that “26 out of 30 tests” completed by Dr. Ross Zafonte (NFL Specialist) and Dr. Lenore Hergert in which “Mr. Karius sustained a concussion during the match May 26, 2018.”
In the match, both Mohamed Salah and Dani Carvajal left the pitch with injuries and left in tears as they both tried to stay on the pitch. However, whether or not the Liverpool goalkeeper was aware of his head injury, he made no indication to the fitness team that he needed to be removed from the pitch. And who can blame him? In a sporting culture where injuries forcing players of the pitch are still seen as a weakness in the player, injured players rarely want to remove themselves from the field of play. Two seasons ago, Ryan Mason suffered a life-threatening injury when going up for a header with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill. Mason’s career has since been ended by a head injury. He is no exception Taylor Twellman - current ESPN commentator and pundit had his career cut shorts after a concussion. Just yesterday, in a friendly match between the United States and France in Lyon, saw Matt Miazga and Olivier Giroud (France) collide for an extremely nasty, bloody, head injury. Upon the incident, both Twellman as commentator and myself from my home coach began anxiously calling for the referee - both of us sensing the gravity of the situation and sitting there helpless to the injured players. Both players were immediately removed from the pitch. But in a match where the score didn’t matter, both players were willing to protect themselves with more important matches to go - especially Giroud who will be going to a World Cup in a few days time.
It’s what happens when the situation is a big game when there is a lot on the line when there isn’t noticeable blood, scars, or symptoms that are most concerning. The major governing bodies - FIFA, UEFA, and the FA of the World, European, and English footballing (soccer) worlds have done a lot within the past decade to ensure concussion protocol is taken more seriously.
As Paul Maych, Liverpool FC pundit and Youtuber put it, concussions are one of those things everyone has heard of and understand the dangers but don’t know much about. As reported by Mayo Clinic “some concussions cause you to lose consciousness, but most do not. It’s possible to have a concussion and not realize it.” As described, there is a wide range of symptoms (or lack thereof). Dr. Zafonte confirmed that Loris Karius suffered from visual-spatial dysfunction a condition that prevents someone from adequately determining spacial awareness. Because Karius’ brain fibers were damaged that the ones that connected to his eye were damaged so subtly that he wasn’t perhaps able to judge the positioning of Karim Benzema’s leg on the first mistake or the flight of the ball of Gareth Bale’s second goal.
It’s very possible that the soccer world can sit back and do absolutely nothing - as is the lack of action that the governing bodies often take - or reforms can be made. From a professional standpoint, the technology is available for the medical teams to detect when a blow to the head occurred. According to the BBC, "Medical staff will be able to review potential concussions on laptops, under new plans discussed by UEFA." Hopefully in future, this will eliminate the issues regarding head injuries in football.