Concussion substitutes are increasingly likely to be introduced in football next season following landmark new research which showed that former professional players are five times more likely to die from Alzheimer’s disease.

A study by the Glasgow Brain Injury Research Group found that ex-footballers had suffered disproportionately from a range of neurological disease and, although the International Football Association Board (IFAB) were already due to consider concussion substitutes at a meeting on Wednesday in Zurich, there is now momentum to accelerate the timescale for tangible action.

The Glasgow study was part-funded by the Football Association and the one immediate change that England’s governing body want is to give pitchside doctors more time to assess head injuries and permit a window whereby a player can be replaced temporarily.

Greg Clarke, the Football Association chairman, has already spoken with Uefa and Fifa about the dementia study and is now trying to build a global collaboration and consensus for professional football to face up to its issues with neurological disease and fund new research to better understand the specific causes of a heightened dementia risk.

FIFpro, the global players’ union, Uefa and Premier League doctors are also now backing concussion substitutes which would be comparable to the head injury assessment protocol that is used in rugby union.

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Telegraph Sport understands that Fifa are themselves now also open to having a 10-minute assessment of players with suspected concussion, as well as giving more powers to their own match doctor in Fifa-organised matches. They are also ready to back up new protocols with sanctions following past examples of their current guidelines being flouted and no subsequent disciplinary consequences.

FIFpro are also pushing for medics independent from Fifa or the competing teams to have the final say on whether a player continues, as well as a ‘return to play’ protocol following concussion that is applied globally across competitions. A minimum of six days is currently recommended in most sports at an elite level and FIFpro have successfully lobbied the European League - a body that represents 37 domestic leagues across 29 countries - to introduce this within two years. Return to play protocols and the independent doctors will not be a matter for IFAB, who only have the power to change the rules of the game. This means that their focus will be on concussion substitutes and how long a player with a head injury can be reviewed.

Clarke said that he was now “pushing very hard” on the swift introduction of concussion substitutes to ease the time pressure on doctors to “make really important health decisions”.

He also said that a directive had been sent out by the FA domestically to re-emphasise concussion protocols in England and what he called “a movement away from repetitive heading practice”.

Morocco were not sanctioned by Fifa for allowing Nordin Amrabat, pictured, to play only five days after being concussed credit: GETTY IMAGES

Clarke was also publicly willingly to acknowledge “a causal link between football and dementia” and said that the next step of the FA’s research investment would be to understand the specific dementia causes. Neurologists can only currently make a link between dementia and head trauma, meaning that there is uncertainty whether the problems are primarily caused by repetitive heading or collisions. Any differences between playing eras and leather or plastic footballs is also currently unknown. “We need to unpack this,” said Clarke. “Then, when we have some facts, change the game to be safer.”

Clarke will also make a presentation this week on the issue to the Fifa board and, while IFAB has sometimes been slow in introducing rule changes, there is hope of tangible decisions within the next six months. “We are a member of IFAB which sets the rules of football,” said Clarke. “We can take recommendations to IFAB this year which goes to the board in December and is voted on by shareholders in February.” The expectation is that IFAB will create a task force or consultation period to understand how best to implement concussion substitutes in football ahead of a potential vote next year.

There has been concern that they could be abused by teams for tactical advantage but Bobby Barnes, the deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, has stressed that the players would have a responsibility not to undermine a measure designed to protect their health.

Barnes is also in favour of taking the final decision on concussion management away from the club doctors. Fifa yesterday promised to collaborate with the FA on further research which it said was required to “better understand the findings” of the Glasgow study and the link between football and dementia.