Thursday 2 May 2019 08:34, UK
UEFA is satisfied its concussion procedure was correctly observed following Jan Vertonghen's head injury during Tottenham's Champions League semi-final defeat to Ajax.
The Belgium defender took a nasty blow to his face in an aerial challenge with Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and Spurs teammate Toby Alderweireld, leaving him bloodied and dazed.
Vertonghen was assessed on the touchline by Spurs' team doctor before returning to the field, but shortly afterwards had to be supported by manager Mauricio Pochettino and other club staff as he went weak at the knees.
UEFA stood by the match officials' decision to allow the Belgian to return to the pitch, saying that the ultimate decision to determine whether Vertonghen was fit to continue lay with Tottenham.
"Based on the reports of UEFA's officials at the match, the concussion procedure was respected during the game, as the referee immediately stopped the match after the incident.
"The doctor was at no point under time pressure from the referee and was given time to make his medical assessment. The stoppage was longer than the 3 minutes mentioned in the procedure.
"In accordance with the procedure, before letting the player coming back onto pitch, the referee went to the touchline to approach the team doctor, who informed the referee that the player is fine to carry on and keep the player on the pitch.
"We refer you to Tottenham Hotspur FC for further details concerning the injury the player suffered and the decision to let him continue playing the match."
UEFA's current concussion procedure was set out in September 2014. It states that the referee must stop the game in the case of a suspected concussion, which differs from the FA's guidelines, where any suspicion of concussion means a player cannot return to the field.
Following the incident involving Vertonghen, FIFPro, the worldwide players' union, called for independent doctors to assist club doctors and suggested temporary substitutions to allow for longer assessment periods.
Peter McCabe, chief executive of brain injury charity Headway, echoed those thoughts in an interview with Sky Sports News, adding that the pressure on a team's doctor in those moments is high.
"You need to have timeouts without disadvantaging the team and the other thing we think is really important is that there should be an independent doctor involved in the decision-making process because the pressure on club staff with a huge game of that magnitude is intense," said McCabe.
"We think that having somebody independent of the club, whose job it is to focus entirely on the health and wellbeing of the player would be really important and those simple measures would make a big difference."
