Why players at Women's World Cup are wearing "collars" around their necks

Last week, the 2023 Women’s World Cup kick started into action in New Zealand and Australia.

The tournament will be held across nine cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington.

Heading into the competition, the United States and England were the favourites to go all the way.

The US are looking to win the World Cup on three successive occasions whilst England are hoping to back up their Euro victory with the biggest trophy of them all.

Despite all the goals and VAR decisions, some eagle-eyed fans have spotted a few players wearing what looked like collars around their necks during matches.

Canadan midfielder Quinn and Costa Rica’s Rocky Rodríguez are two players known to be wearing the device around their necks.

As it turns out, the device is called a Q-Collar, which is a piece of horse-show shaped silicone designed to reduce traumatic brain injuries when playing sports.

Dr. David Smith, the designer of Q-Collar said it offers ‘mild compression against the jugular veins, which causes a very small backfilling into the cranial space.’

Back in 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared the Q-Collar for sale as a medical device.

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However, some people have claimed that the device could lead to athletes behaving differently and taking unnecessary risks.

According to the New York Times, professor of physiology at High Point Univeristy in North Carolina, James Smoliga said: “The danger with a device like this is that people will feel more protected and play differently and behave differently.”

However, the FDA concluded that ‘no significant adverse events were associated with device use’, and that ‘the probable benefits outweigh the probable risks’.

In the NFL, the likes of Drue Tranquill, Tony Pollard, Dalton Schultz, Shaq Thompson, Taylor Rapp, Boston Scott and Colby Parkinson have all been seen wearing the Q-Collar.