A new fund to support players with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases has been created by the Professional Footballers’ Association and the Premier League.
A fund has been in the works to support affected players and their families ever since PFA chief executive Maheta Molango met with campaigners Dawn Astle and Rachel Walden early in his tenure in 2021.
Further meetings followed with the Premier League, the Football Association and the EFL. At this point, only the PFA and the Premier League are involved in the fund, which has an initial £1million available for distribution to families.
Molango insists this should be “a football-wide responsibility” and the ultimate goal is that the fund be replaced in the longer term by a charity backed by all the four key stakeholders in English football.
The FA is involved in funding a number of research projects aimed at understanding why there is a heightened risk of neurodegenerative disease among footballers, something identified by the 2019 FIELD Study.
However, the fund is designed to tackle the immediate needs of players already living with dementia.
Molango said: “This is an important step forward in the way football provides practical support to former players who develop dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
“It’s an issue where, in all areas, we continue to believe there needs to be a football-wide responsibility.
“That includes providing access to financial support for former players and the families who most need it.
“The Premier League deserves credit for the proactive way in which it has approached these discussions. Obviously, we hope that other stakeholders in the game will choose to contribute to the fund going forward.
“There is much that still needs to be done, but this is a positive development which will provide help to former players and their families, and which demonstrates how football has to work together on this issue.”
Former professionals who have been members of the PFA, and their families, will be able to make applications for financial support which will be assessed by an independent, expert panel.
The PFA will proactively approach ex-players and their families it is in contact with who it believes would benefit from the support to explain to them how to make an application.
The union’s brain health unit will also act as a point of contact for former professionals and their families who come forward looking for support or advice.
Dawn Astle’s involvement has been pivotal to the creation of the fund.
Her father Jeff Astle, a former West Brom and England forward, died in 2002 aged 59 with early-onset dementia. A coroner recorded the cause of death as industrial disease, owing to the repeated heading of a ball.
She was once a vocal critic of the PFA under its former chief executive Gordon Taylor over what she perceived to be a lack of support offered to her family and others, but joined the union’s former player care department in early 2022.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the welfare and care of players “has always been a priority” for his organisation and added: “We feel it is important to offer our support to this newly-established brain health fund.
“The fund builds on our long-standing partnership with the PFA and strengthens our collective support for former players facing health challenges.”
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
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