A possible link between dementia and football is being "swept under the carpet" by the game's authorities, Dr Don Williams, a leading Welsh psychiatrist has claimed.
The family of an ex-Wales international and Cardiff City defender Keith Pontin said former players were being "forgotten" by the authorities. He was diagnosed with dementia aged 59 and his family are convinced his condition is linked to his career, which included almost 200 appearances for Cardiff City in the 1970s and '80s. They claim the defender was constantly heading the ball and sustained a "number of concussions" throughout his career.
Dr Williams started studying dementia in ex-players in the 1980s. His work, which followed 14 players living with the condition until they died, was published as part of a study last year.
"The public should know there is a risk, there is a problem", he said. The former consultant psychiatrist at Cefn Coed hospital said: "No-one would think if one whacked one's smart phone regularly....that it wouldn't be damaged. I think the same must apply for the brain".
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