Soccer: English bodies launch new joint action plan on players' brain health

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Arsenal - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - November 1, 2020 General view of flowers and scarves left outside the stadium in memory of Nobby Stiles REUTERS/Paul Ellis

(Reuters) - England's Football Association, the Premier League and other soccer governing bodies have launched a new joint action plan to understand, promote and protect the brain health of players amid the risk of head injuries, they said in a statement on Tuesday.

The issue of dementia in professional soccer was highlighted by the death last year of England's Nobby Stiles who, along with many of his 1966 World Cup-winning team mates, had been diagnosed with the condition.