Emmanuel Petit on concussions: "It's up to the player to take charge"

Even though it's not his sport, Emmanuel Petit couldn't miss the roundtable dedicated to concussion prevention organized by Provale, the professional rugby union, on June 4. A 1998 world champion with Les Bleus, who played for Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​and Chelsea, the 54-year-old former defensive midfielder has a special connection to the subject.

It is explained by a family tragedy that occurred in his youth, by the concussion he suffered while playing for Barça, and by his role as a volunteer ambassador for BrainEye, an application that allows monitoring of brain health. "It's a public health project," Petit emphasizes, because the long-term after-effects of these head shocks are no longer in doubt.

LE FIGARO. - You retired from professional football in 2004. Were concussions a topic at the time?

EMMANUEL PETIT. - No, not really. Even when I had a concussion in 2000 with Barcelona, ​​where I stayed in the hospital for 24 hours. When I woke up, I didn't even remember what had happened during the match. The only time anyone was interested in my brain was when my older brother died at the very beginning of my career. I was 17 or 18 years old. He died of a ruptured aneurysm on a football field. MRIs and CT scans were developing. They made me undergo a whole bunch of tests. In my time, they weren't talked about at all. I had my head cut open 17 times, my eyebrows about ten times, my nose broken three or four times, and my cheekbones crushed. No one ever talked to me about concussions.

Is the subject treated differently today?

It's increasingly being taken into consideration. Protocols are being put in place, whether at the league or federation level. It's evolved. But I think there's still a long way to go. Player awareness must also be a determining factor. They must take responsibility. But I also think that those who control the game must work with all the people working in this field to share tools. It's simply about helping medical staff, and above all, protecting the players' health. There are things that have been done for 20 years, but I think we can do much better.

Serious injuries are visible. Invisible injuries are often not talked about. There's no education at that level in football.

Emmanuel Petit

What symptoms have you experienced?

Memory loss... (He stops) I can assure you, I get checked every month, I don't have any neurological problems. I'm keeping my fingers crossed... But nothing explains the migraines I get once a month and which last more than 24 hours, even when I take medication every 4 hours at a high dose. Light hurts my eyes extremely, I have to go to a dark room, without noise. Only ice can calm me down.

Do you talk about it with former teammates?

No, we don't talk about it. There's no education at that level in football. Serious injuries are visible. Invisible injuries are often not talked about and not communicated about. It's not a priority for clubs either, even though more and more matches are being stopped due to head impacts. We (athletes suffering concussions) address sports organizations, leagues, federations, European and world bodies in all sports, but we mainly address the athlete himself. And the average person. It's up to him to take care of himself.

Also read : Rugby: Romane Ménager will miss the 2025 World Cup after a series of concussions

Countries have banned heading among youth footballers...

(He cuts in) You won't be able to. You won't be able to ban heading. Of course, you can tell them, "If you don't have to head the ball, don't." Or you can very well play with a foam ball in training when you're young. With the sophisticated means we have for transforming balls and materials, we can very well imagine a ball with a surface more suited to young people. In the 80s, when it rained, the ball was soaked with water. When you were a kid and you headed the ball, you were dizzy for ten seconds.

We can put things in place, but to go so far as to change the rules... I don't think that's the right solution. You can't change the rules of boxing, rugby, or football. Prevent them from heading things when it's part of the game... On the other hand, you can provide tools to enable the rapid detection of concussions, thus addressing brain problems early.

It remains difficult for a player to accept going off in the event of a head injury, particularly because the notion of sacrifice is anchored in the sport...

Not all sports are created equal. Football is highly protected at this level. A minority of players earn a very good living, so they are financially protected no matter what, especially since mutual insurance companies come into play in the event of a suspension. Clubs continue to pay them a salary. In other sports, after a while, they are no longer paid.

And there's also the phenomenon of saying to oneself: "If I decide to take charge, I refuse to play." Players often keep it to themselves because they're afraid of penalizing themselves. They imagine very well that with the competition, if you don't play, someone else will take your place.