Top‑level Swedish football players—except for goalkeepers—were significantly more likely to develop dementia than the general public over the last century, a large study suggested on Friday. The research, published in *The Lancet Public Health*, analysed the medical records of more than 6,000 male footballers who played in Sweden’s top division between 1924 and 2019. Their rates of degenerative brain disorders were compared with those of 56,000 similarly aged Swedish men. The footballers were 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias than the control group. Goalkeepers, who rarely head the ball, did not show an increased likelihood of such disorders, supporting the hypothesis that repeated heading may explain the association, said the study’s lead author, Peter Ueda of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet.
Ueda noted that the Swedish study is the largest of its kind since a 2019 Scottish investigation, which found footballers were 3.5 times more likely to develop degenerative brain disorders. The new research also found that footballers lived slightly longer than comparable men, a difference Ueda attributed to higher levels of exercise and socioeconomic status associated with elite sport. There was no increased risk of motor‑neuron diseases such as ALS, and a marginally lower risk of Parkinson’s disease among the players.
The authors cautioned that, as an observational study, the findings cannot prove that playing football directly causes dementia, and they cannot be generalized to female, amateur, or youth players. Many of the participants were active during the mid‑20th century, so improvements in equipment, knowledge and training may have made the game safer for modern professionals. Nonetheless, Ueda speculated that contemporary players, who are exposed to intense football from a very young age, might face an even higher risk.
Gill Livingston, a professor of psychiatry of older people at University College London, described the paper as “high‑quality” and said it adds to the “convincing evidence” that footballers whose heads regularly contact the ball are at greater risk of dementia. “We need to act to protect people’s heads and brains and keep playing sport,” she said, although she was not involved in the research.
Research into head injuries and post‑career side effects has recently expanded, especially in rugby union and rugby league. Last year, studies indicated that former international rugby players are 15 times more likely to develop motor‑neuron disease, and a group of former rugby union players is suing governing bodies for allegedly failing to protect them from permanent injury.
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