Soccer, health officials gather for head injury summit amid criticism from CTE researchers

By JAY COHEN
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Soccer officials, scientists, medical professionals and others have gathered in Chicago for a head injury summit. The conference was organized by U.S. Soccer, Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League and the United Soccer League. It also included speakers from the Premier League, English Football Association and World Rugby. The summit opened a day after the Concussion Legacy Foundation announced that four more former professional soccer players had been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy — a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions in athletes, combat veterans and others who sustained repeated head trauma.