Ryan Mason ‘shocked’ by Arsenal’s David Luiz decision and says ‘dangerous’ concussion protocols ‘MUST be changed’

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Ryan Mason has called for football’s ‘dangerous’ concussion protocols to be radically improved after witnessing Raul Jimenez’s sickening clash of heads with David Luiz.

The Wolves striker underwent surgery on a fractured skull on Sunday night after a heavy clash with Arsenal defender Luiz.

Jimenez received lengthy treatment on the Emirates pitch before being stretchered off and taken straight to hospital, and yet Luiz was simply bandaged up on the touchlines and sent out to play again.

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Both Raul Jimenez and David Luiz felt the full force of the impact, but the Wolves ace came off worse as he was taken to hospital with a fractured skull

Arsenal have faced criticism for allowing the Brazilian to play on, although the club insist protocol was followed, with Luiz continuing until half-time when he was eventually replaced by Rob Holding.

The incident has been compared to the clash of heads that forced Mason into an early retirement – the midfielder hanging up his boots in February 2018 at the age of just 26 as a result of the serious head injury he suffered against Chelsea a year earlier.

The former Tottenham, Hull and England man joined talkSPORT on Monday to reflect on Sunday’s scenes in north London, and admitted he was ‘shocked’ Luiz was given the okay to keep playing.

But he refused to criticise Arsenal’s medical department for the decision.

Instead, he blamed the outdated and ‘dangerous’ concussion protocols, and revealed frustration those protocols have not been improved since the incident that prematurely ended his own career.

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Ryan Mason had to retire due to the injury he suffered playing against Chelsea, after a clash of heads with Gary Cahill

“I was quite upset to see something like that happen on a football pitch again, it’s very concerning,” Mason told talkSPORT host Jim White.

“It’s a real shame my incident didn’t change the perception; what is it really going to take for people to start realising this is something really, really serious?

“I’ll be honest, I was shocked David Luiz was allowed to play on.

“I’m not criticising the Arsenal doctor because there’s a protocol in place and I’m sure he’s followed that.

“But that protocol that is currently in place is not enough; it’s not enough just to have two or three minutes, it’s not enough.

“It was a bad one; the noise, the impact, the speed of the challenge as well – it was a bad one. It didn’t help that there were no fans and you could actually hear the point of contact.

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Luiz continued to play despite his awful collision with Jimenez

“As a human being my first thought was are they both okay, and obviously one has come off worse than the other unfortunately.

“But I looked at that and thought immediately, neither of those players can play on.

“Sometimes you have to forget the protocol and have a bit of common sense.

“The game needs to change this rule. It’s pretty clear that five minutes on the side of the pitch while there is pressure to get the game restarted is not enough to see if someone is concussed or not.

“This current protocol we have in place isn’t okay and it’s dangerous.”

More to follow…

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November 30, 2020 at 04:27PM Premier League Football Fixtures and Results - talkSPORT https://talksport.com