Amid growing scrutiny of player safety in football, the French Football Federation (FFF) has unveiled new guidelines aimed at regulating heading practice among young players. The digital guide, titled “Heading,” provides coaches with a framework for safe instruction adn limits heading drills in training and competition, reflecting a cautious approach to potential long-term neurological effects. Released December 27, 2025, the guidelines follow a trial phase and are intended for use with players aged six to seventeen across France’s amateur leagues.
Heading into Safety: New Guidelines for Youth Players
The French Football Federation (FFF) has released a new digital guide focused on heading in youth soccer, aiming to provide a framework for safe practice and limit its use in both matches and training.
The guide, simply titled “Heading,” addresses growing concerns among parents about the potential long-term effects of heading the ball at a young age. While scientific evidence hasn’t definitively linked heading to neurological issues in professional players, the FFF is prioritizing caution and education with this new resource. The move comes as governing bodies worldwide increasingly scrutinize player safety protocols.
“Our goal is clear: to offer a secure environment, based on current knowledge and recommendations from European authorities, to support the education of heading technique in our soccer schools,” said Claude Delforge, President of the French Amateur Football League (LFA). “UEFA shares our vision – not to ban heading entirely, but to organize its learning. Eliminating headers for players under nine seems appropriate, as there’s very little heading involved in the early years of play. We need to develop appropriate teaching methods for coaches so they can accurately convey the correct techniques to prevent any risk. When taught correctly, respecting the child’s stage of development and abilities, heading becomes a safe and controlled skill.”
Developed in collaboration between the National Technical Directorate (NTD) and the Federal Medical Commission, following a trial phase in the Centre-Val de Loire League, the “Heading” guide is intended to be a reference tool for coaches working with players in the U6 to U17 age groups. It contains the recommendations and rules defined by the FFF, based on expert advice, training principles, and ideas for technical exercises and games. A key directive is the elimination of heading practice for players in the U6 to U9 age groups, for both boys and girls, in both training and matches.
The FFF has widely distributed the digital guide to its leagues, districts, and clubs, as well as regional and departmental technical advisors, training center managers, and Hope Centers, for both women and men, and regional and departmental medical commissions.
