Following the revelation that Loris Karius suffered concussion in the Champions League final, FIFPro has declared “complete solidarity” with the Liverpool and vowed to provide greater awareness of potential health threats to professional players.
Events during a continental clash in Kiev have dominated the headlines long after the final whistle which delivered Real Madrid a third successive European crown.
Mohamed Salah’s injury, Sergio Ramos’ role in taking the Egyptian to the turf and two glaring errors from Reds goalkeeper Karius have provided copy aplenty and sparked endless debate.
It has also now been revealed that a man who shouldered much of the blame for Liverpool’s demise on the grandest of stages was actually concussed when making mistakes which gifted Madrid two goals – with Karius having also clashed with Blancos skipper Ramos in the Ukrainian capital.
After being caught on the head by the Spain international defender, the German custodian has been in the United States undergoing post-game medical tests.
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The results of those were released by Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday, with a statement reading: "On May 31, 2018 Mr. Karius underwent a comprehensive examination by Dr. Ross Zafonte and Dr. Lenore Herget in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
"After carefully reviewing game film and integrating a detailed history – including his reported present and immediate post-contact subjective symptoms – physical examination and objective metrics, we have concluded that Mr. Karius sustained a concussion during the match May 26, 2018.
"At the time of our evaluation, Mr. Karius’s principal residual symptoms and objective signs suggested that visual spatial dysfunction existed and likely occurred immediately following the event. Additional symptomatic and objectively noted areas of dysfunction also persisted. It could be possible that such deficits would affect performance.
"We also note that Mr. Karius has reported significant and steady improvement since the concussive event, and we expect him to make a full recovery based on the results of the examination. We expect that with treatment and by following prescribed activity protocols he will continue to improve. We have encouraged vigilance and an emphasis on safety in his eventual return to full activity."
Various measures have been taken over recent years to ensure that players are not allowed to participate once their health is at risk, with concussion protocols in place within football, rugby, American Football and several other contact sports.
FIFPro – the representative organisation of professional soccer players – is, however, of the opinion that more needs to be done and has vowed to provide greater clarity to those who fall under its remit regarding the safeguarding of top level stars.
While sport has clearly come a long way when it comes to the protection of prized assets, further education is no bad thing and further steps look set to be taken in 2018-19 in an effort to ensure that football is as safe as it possibly can be.
Karius, meanwhile, is now free to continue rebuilding his reputation at Anfield following the most testing period of his career to date.