Project ACL has been launched to help reduce the number of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in women's football; 37 players missed last year's Women's World Cup due to ACL injuries, while WSL players such as Sam Kerr have suffered the same injury this season
Tuesday 30 April 2024 15:51, UK
A three-year project has been launched to investigate the concerning number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in women's football.
Players' union FIFPRO have joined forces with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), Nike and Leeds Beckett University to launch 'Project ACL' with the view of "increasing player availability by reducing ACL injuries".
The study will focus on players in the Women's Super League in England and provide solutions to reducing ACL injuries, which are two to six times more likely to occur in women than men. According to research, two thirds of ACL injuries in women's football occur when there is no physical contact involved.
"This has never been done before," said FIFPRO's Dr Alex Culvin. "Four big stakeholders coming together to better understand ACL injuries has also never been done before.
"This is a response to the players writing to us asking for more research."
The study comes amidst a concerning number of ACL injuries in the women's game since the coronavirus outbreak, with multiple high-profile cases taking place in the last 12 months.
Overall, 37 players missed the Women's World Cup due to ACL injuries, including England winger Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson. Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema are among the other high-profile players to have suffered ACL injuries since the end of 2022.
"We see it as a real player welfare issue," says the PFA's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Women's Football Executive Fern Whelan.
"We want to take a positive stance and we want to answer their needs as footballers."
The investigation will study the impact of workload, training and travel loads, the environment and conditions play in as well the impact of female-specific football boots - but it will not look at the physiological side of the players.
At the end of the study, FIFPRO will share their findings to all football stakeholders including FIFA and regional confederations.
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