RFU, WRU, World Rugby to be served with legal proceedings by firm representing players suffering neurological impairments | Rugby Union News

“This claim isn’t just about financial compensation,” Rylands Garth, representing over 225 players, stated. “It is also about making the game safer and ensuring current and former players get tested, so that if they are suffering a brain injury they can get the clinical help they need”

The RFU is among the many three governing our bodies that can be served with proceedings by the sports activities legislation firm representing over 225 players with neurological impairments

The sports activities legislation firm representing greater than 225 players suffering from neurological impairments will this week serve proceedings towards World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union.

Rylands Garth say its claimants “contend that these defendants were negligent in failing to take reasonable action in order to protect players from permanent injury caused by repetitive concussive and sub-concussive blows”.

Over 20 players concerned within the litigation – together with England World Cup winner Steve Thompson and former Wales captain Ryan Jones – have spoken publicly about their mind accidents from taking part in the game.

In a press release, Rylands Garth stated that many players “now suffer from various irreversible neurological impairments, including early onset dementia, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), post-concussion syndrome, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease”.

Allegations raised by the claimants embrace a failure by the three governing our bodies to take any correct steps as the sport turned skilled to reply to a disregard for participant security and mind well being at membership and worldwide degree, or take satisfactory steps to inform, educate or warn the claimants about dangers of everlasting mind harm.

Other allegations encompass failures to scale back the quantity of contact allowed in coaching, scale back the variety of video games per season, devise and implement guidelines to restrict the variety of substitutions of non-injured players, thereby lowering the danger to players of heavy collisions, devise and implement a mind injury-specific participant passport system and make sure that claimants had been subjected to common monitoring.

Former England participant Steve Thompson is amongst those that have spoken publicly about mind accidents

Rylands additionally represents 80 rugby league players as a part of a separate potential declare towards the Rugby Football League. Lawsuits in Ireland commenced final month, and a French lawsuit on behalf of those that have performed rugby in France was launched on Tuesday.

“This claim isn’t just about financial compensation,” Rylands stated. “It is also about making the game safer and ensuring current and former players get tested, so that if they are suffering a brain injury they can get the clinical help they need.

“The players we signify love the sport. We goal to problem the present perceptions of the governing our bodies, to attain some extent the place they settle for the connection between repetitive blows to the top and everlasting neurological damage, and to take steps to shield players and assist those that are injured.”