A study led by FifPro has found female footballers suffering from concussion on at least three occasions performed "significantly worse" in tasks requiring attention.
FifPro – the professional players' union – studied 68 players, who took part in online tests measuring memory, attention, reaction time and other mental abilities.
Of those studied, 43% had experienced at least one concussion during their careers and defenders (50%) were the most common players to sustain the injury.
Players who had suffered three concussions found it more difficult to perform on attentive tasks such as tracking the ball and opponents, maintaining positional awareness and reacting quickly during match play.
FifPro says further research will be needed before they can introduce new health guidelines for players.
