After the death of Adam Johnson – demand for neck protection in England

After the death of Adam Johnson, the English Hockey League decided to introduce mandatory neck protection.

It goes into effect on December 31.

“It is our duty to use every means possible to ensure that a tragic event like this does not impact our sport again,” the federation wrote.

Adam Johnson died after suffering a neck skiing accident during a match with his team, Nottingham, in the English Premier League on Saturday.

He was 29 years old.

Following Johnson’s death, controversy erupted over neck protection, and now the English Hockey Association (EIHA) is taking action. Effective December 31, players at all levels within the association’s leagues will be required to wear neck protection.

The reason it was submitted on 31 December and not immediately is that EIHA takes responsibility for any delivery problems. Until then, the association makes a “strong recommendation.”

“It is unacceptable for any player to lose their life in our sport. Our responsibility is not only to prevent a repeat of such a tragic incident, but also to prevent and deal with other incidents expected in the future.

“A great tragedy”

In Sweden, neck protection is already mandatory. National team director Anders Lundberg is happy about that.

– As a hockey person and as someone who has a job that is a lifestyle, you realize how small hockey is. It is, of course, a great tragedy by all standards. “No matter how you spin it and twist it, it’s a terrible, very tragic thing,” Lundberg says.

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– I am very glad that in Sweden we have requirements for neck protection, which we have had for many years. This rule does not exist when we play the World Cup with our senior national teams, nor in the Youth Twenty20 World Cup for mature players. But we have continued to have a very clear position on the part of the federation that we provide neck protection for all players and we encourage our players to wear it. We also have a responsibility to all clubs. When players are at their clubs, they must wear neck protection and there should be no difference at all when representing Trey Kronor.

Neck protection requirements are welcome everywhere

Would you like to see an international requirement for this in those leagues where it doesn’t exist?

-We have this rule for a reason here in Sweden and I completely welcome the neck protection requirement. Then how the dialogue goes, I’m not familiar with it at all, so I’m cautious about making a statement. But as I said, we have this rule for a reason in Sweden, and I don’t see anything strange about it being applied everywhere, says Lundberg.