I WAS very concerned to see that Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius was diagnosed as having concussion for more than half of the Champions League Final last month.

The 24-year-old German was widely seen as one of the main reasons Liverpool lost the match after two gaffes, but this is far more important than that.

It is worrying that some of the top football clubs in the world are not aware enough of when somebody has a head injury, there is no way he should have carried on.

If this is the case at the top level, imagine how many times this happens lower down the football pyramid where they do not have physios and medical staff with the same expertise.

I think sport needs to have more education about this. The fact that some football fans believe this is being used as an excuse for Karius's poor performance really miss the main point.

Earlier this year in the Six Nations, amongst rugby's most prestigious competitions saw Cian Healy, an Irish prop return to the field after two head injuries.

Once he was back on the pitch it was clear to any spectator that he was not in a fit condition to continue the game.

This kind of injury has to be picked up by medical staff.

It is only a matter of time before failure to pick up head injuries causes another serious sporting injury unless something is done about it.

I would like to see an automatic free substitute for a head injury. Whilst critics say that this could lead to managers cheating the system and pretending their players have head injuries when they do not, I think this is the only way.

In Australian cricket, a free substitute is introduced when a player has suffered concussion and there is a strong chance this could be introduced to English cricket.

This is in the aftermath of the death of Australian batsman Phil Hughes during a game of cricket. It should be said that on this occasion there was absolutely no fault by the team's medical staff.

I think cricket is taking the lead on an important issue, and it is time that other sports follow suit.

After all, the most important thing is that athletes remain safe.