Footballers are more likely to get dementia

Dangers of heading ball confirmed in new research

- MARTIN BAGOT

FOOTBALLERS are more likely to develop dementia due to heading the ball, a further study has suggested.

But researchers found that unlike outfield players, goalkeepers do not have an increased risk of becoming victims.

The major study of Swedish footballers from 1924 to 2019 revealed they were 1.5 times more likely to suffer Alzheimer's and other dementias than the general population. It adds to similar findings of a study by Glasgow University.

Peter Ueda, assistant professor at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet, said: "This confirms that elite Goali don't the sa footballers have a greater increa risk of neurodegenerative disease later in life.