AFL apologises to past players over past concussion research

The AFL has released the results of an independent review which revealed that its long-running research project into concussion was under-resourced and that a key research adviser was guilty of plagiarism.

Having received the final report of an independent review it commissioned earlier this year, the AFL has apologised to past players for earlier concussion research being "under-funded" and "under-resourced".

While finding that its concussion guidelines were sound, AFL General Counsel Andrew Dillon acknowledged "a number of inadequacies" cited in the League's concussion research between 2014 and 2019, highlighted by a detailed 260-page report documented by an independent panel of experts over the last six months.

The report also investigated plagiarism claims against Associate Professor Paul McCrory, a former concussion advisor at the AFL, finding an "embarrassing blemish" on his "professional and academic reputation".

However, the panel found that McCrory's identified instances of plagiarism did not "affect or taint the work" he had undertaken while advising the League on its guidelines for concussion.

Publishing the independent report in full today, the AFL advised it had provided a copy to the Victorian Coroner who is investigating the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck.

The report said the League's major historical concussion research project, known as the Past Player Project, "suffered from a lack of governance, stewardship and coordination in how it was rolled-out and implemented".

In a statement, the AFL advised "these problems manifested in there being no published research from the study which explained the results of the research imaging undertaken on retired AFL players and confusion on the part of the past player participants as to what tests or procedures related to clinical treatment as opposed to being purely for research purposes."

The AFL has said it will now commence a process to consider and respond to numerous recommendations made by the panel's report, hoped to improve the structure and workings of its ongoing concussion management research.

Part of this will include the League committing investments of up to $1 million per year on concussion research projects, and $2.5 million per year on a "large-scale, 10-year longitudinal research project".

The AFL will also ask Gordon Legal to continue consulting on the design of a no-fault financial assistance scheme for players who have suffered debilitating head injuries during their V/AFL playing careers.