Full90 Sports, a maker of head protection for soccer players, has entered into an agreement with Japan-based Mitsui & Company.

Mitsui & Company has made a strategic investment in Full90 Sports and will also serve as a manufacturer and exclusive distributor for Asia, including China, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

"We have tracked Full90's progress for almost two years, and are very pleased to utilise our global resources to expand Full90's market potential worldwide," said Haruo Iwasaki, general manager of investment business at Mitsui.

The use of head protection in soccer is now becoming widely accepted as numerous medical studies indicate that concussions are just as prevalent as in other contact sports such as American football and hockey. A new FIFA-funded study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that Full90 Sports flagship product, the F90 Performance Headguard, significantly reduced impact forces and the probability of concussion in certain instances, such as head-to-head impacts. There are approximately 200 million soccer players worldwide and 10 million in the US.