Dementia campaigners have called on the PFA’s director of brain health to resign, while the widow of a former player has branded the union ‘pathetic and cruel’.
Football Families For Justice (FFJ) say they were left ‘appalled’ after Adam White appeared to claim that the PFA’s strategy to tackle the issue of footballers suffering from a much higher rate of brain diseases than the rest of the population had been successful during a summit in San Francisco.
They also say reference made to three deceased former players, including ex-Manchester United and Scotland defender Gordon McQueen, in subsequent material promoting his presentation was ‘crass and unacceptable’ and ‘an insult to these dead players and their families’ who they say were left in the lurch by the PFA.
Dr White joined the PFA in 2022 and oversees their work in brain health. At the Global CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) Summit in California he seemed to suggest that the union’s guidelines, which recommend no more than 10 headers a week for professionals, were working.
‘The science and solutions are clear, it just takes willingness from the sporting bodies to put athletes’ long-term health first and I am pleased that we have been able to do that in England,’ he said.
But in a blistering attack, the FFJ – led by John Stiles, the son of World Cup winner Nobby – hit out.
Dementia campaigners have called on the PFA’s director of brain health Adam White to resign after a speech he gave at a summit in San Francisco
‘Such claims are nonsense,’ they said. ‘The strategy has no teeth and adherence is not monitored. Modern-day players will still incur these fatal brain diseases.’
While calling for White’s resignation, the FFJ also rounded on the PFA and Premier League’s £1million-a-year fund, which is meant to help ex-players suffering from brain diseases caused by repetitive heading.
‘It is clear to us that Adam White’s position in leading the PFA/Premier League Brain Health Fund is completely untenable,’ they said. ‘The fund is a shambles. And for the Concussion Legacy Foundation, who helped organise the event to then refer to Kevin Bird, Chris Nicholl and Gordon McQueen in a subsequent press release promoting the PFA and White’s presentation is simply crass and unacceptable. It is an insult to these dead players and their families.’
The spokesperson added: ‘It is a grim irony that the PFA could attend this CTE conference in San Francisco yet they failed to attend Gordon McQueen’s inquest in Northallerton.
‘The PFA refused to help Gordon in yet another disastrous example of their contempt for former players who incur these fatal brain diseases at four times the national average.’
Sue Bird, widow of former Mansfield Town defender Kevin, who passed away at the age of 70 in 2023, said: ‘The PFA failed to help Kevin when he was dying. They provided no support.
‘THE PFA WERE PATHETIC AND CRUEL. We used the family’s savings to support Kevin. I am completely disgusted to see his name being used in this callous manner.’
Dr. Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said: ’I want to offer my personal apology to these families. The intention in mentioning these players in the release was to honour them and raise awareness of the human impact of CTE.
‘I have followed the public advocacy and disclosures these families have made in the press, and I believed referencing their loved ones would reflect that effort. If it was not received in this way, I apologise for any pain it caused.’
