Keeping an eye upon some perennial favourites …

Here’s an update upon the latest media stories on two issues we feature regularly in our Rust sports coverage:

CONCUSSION

Iconic Wales rugby union player George North is even now undergoing concussion protocols as a result of yet another head injury he sustained in the last round of Six Nations matches amidst renewed calls for him to consider whether it is time for him to hang up his boots in the interest of his own long-term medical future.

More than five years ago American  NFL teams came to a massive settlement with former players who had suffered head-injury-related serious conditions including early dementia.

These days rugby union has reasonably strict procedures for players who have received head injuries and/or appear to have been knocked cold on the field of play. They immediately have to go off for an official “HIA” (‘head injury assessment’) examination by a doctor after which – if there is any doubt at all – they are withdrawn from the action and thereafter have to undergo a series of protocols and exams before they are allowed to return to action.

I have even seen a televised match incident in which – play having been stopped and an injured player assessed by his team physio and doctor and pronounced “fit to continue” – referee Nigel Owens has recalled the medics back on the pitch after they had turned to leave it, pointed to the fact the player was still clearly staggering about, and told them he didn’t care what their verdict was, the player was clearly in no fit condition to continue and then ordered him off to go for an HIA in any event. He did not return to the pitch.

Premier League football has also adopted much stricter protocols that in olden days.

There is a slight complication in football for both officials and medics in that, with the sport traditionally tolerating a degree of faked or exaggerated player injuries (the sufferer of which, after winning a free kick or even a yellow card against the opponent who sent them flying, then miraculously springing back to life as if nothing has happened and then sprinting to all intents and purposes unharmed to their next position on the field) someone has to make a judgement – or two – as to whether any specific injury is serious or not.

However, as I read football’s current practice, the officials and medics now always err on the side of caution – and quite rightly too: in several instances I have seen in the past three or four years, serious head injuries have been dealt with properly and with sensitivity – and the players concerned protected from long term injury/medical damage.

And then of course, there’s boxing: see here for a piece by Stephanie Convery that appears today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN

THE DISCIPLINARY CODE FOR VIOLATIONS OF PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS IN TRACK AND FIELD

Here follows an article on a recent case of a breach of the disciplinary code – UK hammer thrower Mark Dry is contesting his four-year ban for violating the sport’s ‘anti-doping’ rules on the ground that he is innocent.

Personally, with my zero tolerance towards those who are found guilty of drug-taking in sport, I’m afraid I have little sympathy for him.

Just as other UK athletes – whom I shall not name here – have occasionally protested loud and long after “missing” three consecutive commitments to be where they were supposed to be so that drug-testers could visit and take samples from them, Mr Dry has fallen foul of the doping rules not by taking drugs but by failing to be where he should have been.

And in his case, lying about it.

To my mind, any breach of the “anti-doping” rules is a breach of the “anti-doping” rules, even if it doesn’t involve any issue of whether or not the individual actually took drugs, or indeed didn’t.

Yes, of course, in law everyone should be innocent until proved guilty.

But in cases like Mr Dry’s, nobody is claiming that he took performance-enhancing drugs. He’s simply been accused of not being where he should be at the time that a random test might/could have been taken from him. Which I don’t think he disputes. But lying about where you were is a breach of the rules …. just as much as actually taking banned drugs is.

In my view Mr Dry should ‘man up’ and get a life.

See here for an article by PA Media and Guardian Sport in which Mr Dry sounds off (without sounding very convincing to me), as appears today, again on the website of – THE GUARDIAN