Marco Silva wants review of head knock rules after Fulham concede with 10 men

Martin Macdonald

2 Jan 2026 06:30 CST
4 min read

Fulham manager Marco Silva believes a review is needed on current rulings surrounding head injuries.

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On Thursday, Fulham drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace. Jean-Philippe Mateta gave the hosts the lead with 39 minutes on the clock with Fulham at a disadvantage as defender Jorge Cuenca was off after receiving treatment for a head knock.

He had previously went down after apparently being struck by the stray arm of Justin Devenny and was ordered off the pitch by the referee.

Palace took the lead just a few seconds later, which has left Silva furious.

"We conceded a goal when the game was completely under control, and I really believe that at that moment we should not have been playing with 10 men," he said post-match, with Fulham going on to earn a 1-1 draw.

OUR JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA 😍 pic.twitter.com/ROTTXkj4ut
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 1, 2026

"Football is to be played 11 against 11. We cannot be always calling the medical stuff when it's not necessary to do it.

"I told the official because it's happening too often. I think they should review that they should analyse that."

Current rules state that a player must stay off the pitch for at least 30 seconds after receiving treatment for a head injury.

What are the rules on head injuries?

The regulations on head injuries were changed before the start of the current campaign. They read:

"Where a player has a suspected head injury and the referee stops the game, the official will immediately signal for a doctor or physio to enter the pitch in order to promote player welfare. The player will need to leave the pitch for further assessment and remain on the touchline for a minimum 30 seconds after play has restarted."

Before the rules were implemented this season, Chief Refereeing Officer for Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Howard Webb stated:

"What we've said this year is that if a player presents the signs to the referee of having a potential head injury, usually that will be because the player goes down holding their head.

"If the referee decides to stop the game mainly because of concerns around it being a head injury or potential head, then we'll get the doctor or a physio on straight away.

"We want to make sure the player gets assistance if they've got a genuine head injury, but also there was some feeling as well that too many times, players were going down holding their heads. The game was then being interrupted as a result of that and the player was absolutely fine.

"That's to protect a player safety, but also hopefully it'll deter people from potentially gaming it a little bit by getting the game stopped."

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