Real Madrid: Trying to understand Gareth Bale’s medical confidentiality request
By Ben Sundock
After picking up yet another leg muscle injury while on international break with Wales, Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale requested the club not release information to the public. What does this mean and is it the right thing to do?
He has missed two consecutive matches and is set to miss a third it appears. Gareth Bale has returned to the United Kingdom today and all indications are pointing to him missing the match against Leganes in the coming days.
Gareth went down with a leg problem in the dying minutes of the 1-1 draw against Luka Modric’s Croatia during the international break at the beginning of this month, but the details on the injury Bale sustained were never released publicly like we usually see.
In a rare case, Bale requested that the Real Madrid Sanitas medical staff withhold the information, leaving fans and media members totally in the dark. With the extent of the injury being held in confidentiality, the forward could miss another week, a month, or even longer.
Although you may not realize it, according to Article 22.4 of Law 31/1995 in Spain:
"“Access to medical information of a worker has to be restricted to their personal doctor and the healthcare authorities who survey their health, which cannot be provided to the employer or other people without the worker’s consent.”"
Over the last two decades, Spanish clubs have normalized the publication of player medical records and details regarding injury, however, it is the player’s right to deny that information from becoming public knowledge thanks to this law.
Doing research on this topic, I am now in total agreement with Gareth Bale’s decision. When a player is in a tough spot at a club, an injury can decide whether or not he gets a new contract with the team, receives less playing time, or is even sold away.
Plus, if every football fan in the world can easily access information on a player’s health, the pressure on that player will only grow.
This is especially the case for Bale who has been injured a few times every season since coming over from Tottenham Hotspur. And, with so much uncertainty regarding his future in Spain, this is a smart business decision.
Bale has been unfairly judged time and again by Real Madrid fans and it’s happening once again over keeping his medical reports confidential. To put it simply, this is just stupid. Let’s remember that this is a human being who has a very stressful job.
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We don’t need to know every single thing that is going on behind the scenes. If we did, the club would never be able to get anything done!
I would be in favor of La Liga adopting a policy like we see in the Premier League where clubs do not release medical reports but instead, managers are asked a couple of questions regarding the player’s health and if they choose to answer them, they can, and if they don’t want to, that’s alright too.
Leave Gareth Bale alone Real Madrid fans. Let him heal and relax for a little bit.