London’s High Court will hear an application on Friday to consolidate claims from 475 former athletes with neurological impairments into a class action against the governing bodies of their sports, law firm Rylands Garth said.
The company said on Tuesday it would apply for a Group Litigation Order (GLO) over claims brought by 450 rugby players and 25 football players against global and UK governing bodies in rugby union, rugby league and football.
GLOs are often associated with claims of occupational diseases, such as breathing problems in coal miners.
A source at World Rugby told Reuters on Tuesday that 268 rugby union plaintiffs were involved in the case.
The players accuse governing bodies of failing in their duty of care, exposing them to injuries from concussions and other injuries that led to conditions such as motor neuron disease, early-onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
“We are seeing the same concerning symptoms in numerous cases across all three contact sports,” Rylands Garth said in a statement.
“These symptoms include chronic depression, aggression, significant memory loss, incontinence, drug and alcohol addiction, and in some cases suicide attempts.”
World Rugby, England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were saddened to hear of the struggles of former players.
“Despite court orders, the players’ lawyers have not yet provided full details of the claims made against us and therefore we cannot comment on the ongoing legal action or contact the players directly,” the governing bodies added.
“We want the players involved to know that we are listening, we care about player welfare and remain committed to the game as the sport’s top priority.”
“Players and parents can have confidence that rugby is as safe as a contact sport can be. Rugby will always use the latest scientific evidence to guide all player welfare measures.”
Formal proceedings in the case opened at the High Court in London on 23 June.
World Rugby has taken several steps to mitigate the effects of concussion, including introducing smart mouthguard technology to assess head impact and introducing trials to reduce tackle height in community rugby.
“Across rugby, we care deeply about all of our current and former players. We will never stand still when it comes to player welfare,” the governing bodies added. REUTERS
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