The National Institutes of Health will reportedly let its partnership with the National Football league expire in August.
According to ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, the National Institutes of Health on Concussion decided not to renew its agreement with the National Football League for what they described “following a bitter dispute in 2015 in which the NFL backed out of a major study that had been awarded to a researcher who had been critical of the league.”
The NFL has previously pledged $30 million to help research the connection between brain disease and football.
“The NFL’s agreement with [the funding arm of the NIH] ends August 31, 2017, and there are no current research plans for the funds remaining from the original $30 million NFL commitment,” the NIH said in a statement (h/t ESPN).
The Washington Post’s Mark Maske reported that Democratic members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce had sent a letter to the league asking if they planned to fulfill the terms of it’s donation and that the league has still not contributed $18 million of the initial amount they pledged back in 2012.
“We are currently engaged in constructive discussions with the FINH regarding potential new research projects and the remaining funds of our $30 million commitment,” the NFL said in a statement reported by Bleacher Report via CNN’s Jill Martin.
“In September 2016, the NFL pledged $100 million in support for independent medical research and engineering advancements in neuroscience-related topics. This is in addition to the $100 million that the NFL and its partners are already spending on medical and neuroscience research.”
The NFL and the NIH have had a strained relationship for years.