UAAP working on concussion protocol but admits ‘it’s hard to get consensus’

With the aftereffect of Steve Akomo’s apparent head trauma, the UAAP said that it’s working on implementing a concussion protocol but admitted that it has been a complicated process.

UAAP Executive Director Atty. Rebo Saguisag said the league has been trying to come up with a concrete protocol regarding injuries caused by head trauma but no consensus has been reached so far.

“People should be more conscious now but the mandatory league-wide safety protocol is kind of complicated,” said Saguisag Wednesday. “We’ve been working on it but it has been really hard to get a consensus.”

READ: UST big man Akomo hospitalized due to head trauma, blood clot 

Akomo apparently sustained his injury after he collided with fellow big man Papi Sarr in the Sept. 22 game between University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University.

Akomo finished that game, a 79-71 loss to the Growling Tigers, and also suited up in UST’s 85-53 loss to Ateneo a couple of days later.

UST’s center, however, sat out the next game against De La Salle after suffering from symptoms akin to food poisoning.

Saguisag said the mandatory sit out policy gets tricky in the sense that there’s no third-party body to decide if a player should sit out games to recover.

“This is very touchy because who gets to decide?” said Saguisag who likened the circumstances to the major sports leagues in the United States that have concussion protocols.

He also added that the policy should not just be implemented in basketball, but across all sports.

“Let me emphasize, the league-wide safety protocol should not be limited to basketball there’s football and other sports.”