Traditional concussion assessments are often designed for quiet clinical settings and can take 10 to 15 minutes, the report says. That makes them difficult to complete during a match, when play has stopped briefly and pressure is building for a decision.
FOCUS is designed to begin as a medic approaches the player, continue on the pitch and finish at the touchline. The key principle is simple: if a player displays even one concerning sign or symptom, the recommended response is immediate substitution.
That approach puts player welfare ahead of the temptation to wait for clearer evidence. In football, where athletes can minimise symptoms to remain involved, a short and structured process could reduce the scope for subjective judgment.
The protocol contains 45 items across 11 areas, including balance, memory and visible physical signs. The report says it was shaped through medical research and consultation with football doctors and physiotherapists.
Its matchday trial covered eight real head-impact incidents in professional football. The full assessment reportedly took two minutes and 52 seconds, identified three players who needed to be substituted, and was followed by concussion confirmation in two cases.
Those figures are promising but remain a small evidence base. The findings should therefore be treated as an early step rather than proof that FOCUS is ready for universal adoption.
The report says the protocol still needs refinement across players of different sexes, backgrounds and competition levels. It also highlights ACVPU - Alert, Confused, Verbal, Physical, Unresponsive - as a potentially more practical alertness scale than complex hospital-style checks in match conditions.
The next challenge is implementation: testing FOCUS across more competitions, training medical teams and ensuring clubs accept removal as the default when doubt remains. Further validation will determine whether a three-minute assessment can become football’s new concussion standard.