Four Premier League-era players and the family of Joe Kinnear are part of a legal action against the football authorities over brain injuries sustained from playing the game, which returns to the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday.
They are part of a group of 35 former players who claim that the Football Association, English Football League, Football Association of Wales and Ifab, football’s law-making body, were negligent in failing to take reasonable action to protect them from permanent injury caused by repetitive concussive and subconcussive blows.
Before the latest hearing, which is a routine case management conference in advance of a potential future trial, solicitors for the players have submitted more than 8,000 pages of medical records and documents related to the case.
Six claimants have died during the litigation process, including Kinnear last month. Solicitors for the players say that the players live or lived with irreversible neurological impairments, including early onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, post-concussion syndrome, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease.
Speaking before the hearing the players’ solicitor, Richard Boardman, of Rylands Garth, accused the game’s authorities of seeking to delay legal proceedings.
“Today’s hearing is the latest milestone in our campaign to seek justice for those who were not protected by the football governing bodies from sustaining brain damage,” he said. “The sheer scale of the problem is illustrated by the fact that we have filed more than 8,000 pages of medical records and legal documents for the first 17 football claimants alone. The defendants are going to remarkable lengths to delay proceedings and are already in breach of court protocols to disclose documents.”
An FA spokesperson said: “We are not able to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. We continue to take a leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game. This includes investing in and supporting multiple projects in order to gain a greater understanding of this area through objective, robust and thorough research. We have already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors which may be associated with football whilst ongoing research continues in this area including liaising with the international governing bodies.”
An FAW spokesperson also stated it was not able to comment on any proceedings but said: “We take the welfare of players extremely seriously and player safety is, and always has been, of paramount importance to us.”
The EFL and Ifab have been approached for comment.
The next court hearing related to brain injuries will be held on 20 May, when the lawsuits in rugby union and rugby league will be heard together for the first time.
