Wynton Rufer: New Zealand football has bigger problems than kids heading a ball

All Whites legend Wynton Rufer says New Zealand football has bigger problems than worrying about kids heading a football.

The United States Soccer Federation has released new guidelines that bans kids under the age of 10 from heading and restricted heading practice for kids aged between 11 and 13.

The new regulations came about after parents and players launched a lawsuit in a federal court in California - alleging that US soccer wasn't working hard enough to monitor and treat head injuries.

But Rufer, who heads the Wynton Rufer Soccer School of Excellence in New Zealand, said the issue was unlikely to cause any dramas in New Zealand.

"It's typical of America isn't? In their system you can sue for anything," said Rufer.

"Football's got lots of problems, with Fifa and all those dramas. Normally it starts at the top with any decision-making like that or maybe in a country.

"New Zealand has got its own problems and I don't think they're going to be worried about under 10s heading the ball.

"I run a football academy and I'll be honest, New Zealanders are useless at heading the ball so it won't make much difference here!"

New Zealand Football (NZF) is still reeling from the player eligibilty saga surrounding Deklan Wynne that saw the All Whites' Olympic team disqualified during qualifying for the tournament in Rio next year.

The Oceania Football Confederation rejected their appeal last month.

Former high performance director of NZF, Fred de Jong, resigned in September - citing the saga as the main reason for his departure.

NZF medical director, Dr Mark Fulcher, revealed the national body would not be following the USSF in banning heading at younger age groups.

"We have noted the policy put in place by the United States Soccer Federation but at this stage we won't be taking similar action," he said.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and all the research closely but at this point we will be following Fifa's lead on this issue.

"Research shows the action of heading a football in isolation does not cause concussion but heading the ball repeatedly over an extended period of time can lead to problems.

"At junior and younger youth levels of the game, heading the ball isn't a regular feature of a match and our position at this stage would be to advise coaches and players to continue to play and train as normal, including heading.

"At younger ages we would advise against prolonged periods of continuous heading activity in training."

Rufer did add that the influence of sport science could potentially lead to changes in heading but said American football teams in the future could potentially be targeted, if weaknesses in their players heading ability develop in the future.

"Sports science is getting more influential in sport and there could be some changes in heading the ball – all sorts of things could be possible really," added Rufer.

"I suppose American footballers could have a weakness in heading the ball. If you play against them then you can utilise that opportunity of set pieces where you can beat them because they can't head the ball."