Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois suffered a head injury during the London Derby Sunday when Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez accidentally collided with the Belgium international inside the Chelsea penalty box.  Courtois went down right away, and while the Chelsea medical staff treated the keeper, he was allowed to continue playing for another 14 minutes before finally being substituted and taken to hospital.

The London-based club defended their actions to leave Courtois on the pitch following the incident by saying that he had only suffered “a minor cut to the ear”.  While Courtois was cleared by doctors at the hospital, new Premier League rules implemented before the start of the season clearly state that players must leave the pitch following a head injury. The head injury is something that undoubtedly occurred to Courtois.

The new rule states, “A player suffering a head injury must now leave the pitch.  Team managers or coaching staff will no longer decide if a player continues to play and the final decision will be with the club doctor.  Home teams in the Premier League must now have a third ‘tunnel’ doctor on match-days to support the work of the doctors for both sides.”

Headway.org, a brain injury charity was quick to criticize Chelsea on their handling of Courtois.  The organization’s chief executive, Peter McCabe, stated that is was “hard to understand how a concussion was not suspected”.  McCabe also said, “The new rules introduced this season were designed to ensure no risks to players’ health were taken.  Bleeding from one or both ears is one of the symptoms that requires an immediate visit to hospital.”

A clear lack of knowledge and mindfulness to head injuries is nothing new in sports, especially soccer.  Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris suffered a concussion during a match against Everton last season, and persuaded the Spurs coaches and medical staff into letting him continue in the game.  Lloris later admitted that he was wrong to continue in the match and welcomed any changes to the system.

Some of the issues in dealing with head injuries comes down to the machismo involved in male sports past and present.  Most men have been perceived as being weak if they were to refuse to re-enter a game following a head injury incident.  The “if I can walk, I’ll play” attitude has long been associated with sports since the beginning of time.  This unhealthy and dangerous thinking needs to be seriously revised by coaches, leagues, and players around the world.

ESPN soccer pundit Taylor Twellman knows all too well about concussions in sports.  The former New England Revolution and USMNT standout was forced to retire at the age of 30 due to issues with head injuries.  Since retiring, Twellman has started THINKTaylor.org, a foundation “driven and dedicated to changing the culture in the world of concussions. THINKTaylor’s positive message emphasizing awareness, education and putting the health of kids‑first will create positive social change and in return a safer, healthier and smarter environment.”

Foundations such as Headway and THINKTaylor, along with educated coaches and players, will certainly help bring more awareness to the ever important issue of concussions.  The culture of sports is in a desperate need of change on the topic of head injuries and perhaps even more protocols should be in place to aid player safety.