ARSENAL have insisted all concussion protocols were followed to the book before David Luiz was allowed to play on following a sickening clash of heads with Raul Jimenez.
Gunners defender Luiz was left with blood seeping from a gash and took three minutes to rise from laying flat-out after the horror collision.
Luiz is treated pitchside after the clash of headsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
It came just five minutes into the Premier League game against Wolves at the Emirates.
Jimenez was rushed to hospital having been given oxygen on the pitch for ten minutes before being taken away on a stretcher.
But Brazilian Luiz was patched up with a bandage and allowed to resume play – even though blood continued to seep from his wound.
That raised concerns about whether he was fit enough to play on.
But the Gunners insist all protocols and guidelines were correctly followed.
That would have meant club doctor Gary O’Driscoll having the final say on whether the former Chelsea star – who was eventually substituted at half-time – would have been fit to play on.
O’Driscoll is regarded as one of the country’s leading consultants in concussion in sport.
Luiz and Jimenez clash headsCredit: PA:Press Association
FA and Premier League guidelines make it clear if there is the slighted ‘suspicion’ a player is concussed they should not be allowed to play on.
Team medics are also encouraged to consult video footage of the clash to gain a better understanding of what happened and how the injury was sustained, rather than just take the word of the of a player.
SunSport understands video was looked at on this occasion.
An update during the second half on Sky Sports claimed Jimenez was conscious after being taken to hospital and was respsonding to treatment.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta looks at player headaches ahead of Wolves match
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
