Over 150 ex-football, rugby players join concussion lawsuit

Photo: THIERRY ZOCCOLAN / AFP

A group of more than 150 former football, rugby league and rugby union players suffering from neurological impairments are due to join a class-action lawsuit against their respective governing bodies.

London sports law firm Rylands Garth said it would issue proceedings in court on behalf of 100 rugby league players, 40 rugby union players and 15 football players, taking the total number of claimants to 380.

The players allege that the sports’ governing bodies failed to protect them from concussion and non-concussion injuries that caused various disorders including early onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease.

“Acting on the latest science, evidence and independent expert guidance, we constantly strive to safeguard and support all our players’ future, current, and former,” World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said in a joint statement.

“As has been the position since December 2020 when these claims were first made, we remain unable to comment on the specifics of the legal action as we continue to await the full details of the claims being made against us.”

Reuters has contacted RFL and football’s governing body FIFA for comment.

In recent months, World Rugby has also recommended the tackle height be lowered in the amateur game and pointed to studies in France and South Africa that showed positive advancements in terms of player safety and overall game experience.

Rylands Garth represents over 250 rugby union players with brain damage, including England World Cup winner Steve Thompson and former Wales captain Ryan Jones, in a claim against World Rugby and the governing bodies of England and Wales.

The firm also represents 100 rugby league players as part of a separate but similar potential claim against England’s RFL.

Former British & Irish Lion Dafydd James, who joined the claim on Tuesday, said his early onset dementia diagnosis could explain his mental health struggles.

“In a way it probably highlights that I’ve got a little bit of an answer about why I feel the way I do,” the 42-year-old former Wales international told the BBC.

“I think there’s a duty of care on both sides to make it safer so there’s longevity and the game can move forward.”

World Rugby, RFU and WRU responded to James’s comments, saying, “we care deeply about every member of the rugby family and have been saddened by the brave personal accounts of Dafydd and other former players who are struggling with health issues.”

–Reuters