Player union blasts concussion management at World Cup
MOSCOW — The impact to his head was so violent that Noureddine Amrabat can’t remember the World Cup match at all, even though he was playing in it.
“Five, six hours, gone. Totally gone,” the Morocco midfielder said of the concussion sustained in his team’s opening match against Iran.
“When you think about it, it is a little bit scary.”
Five days after a clash of heads sent him to hospital for a brain scan and 24 hours of medical supervision, the 31-year-old was back in the Moroccan lineup Wednesday and played the entire match in a 1-0 loss to Portugal, in defiance of FIFA guidelines and his team doctor.