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Perspectives in football medicine

Perspektiven in der Fußballmedizin

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Abstract

The high injury rate among men’s professional football players is well-known. Therefore, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) launched an injury study already in 2001. This study, the UEFA Elite Club Injury Study (ECIS), currently includes data from a total of 51 clubs from 18 European countries with more than 14,000 registered injuries. With the 21st World Cup (WC) in Russia just around the corner, we have from our study identified a higher match injury rate and a higher proportion of severe injuries in the European Championships compared to the preceding club competitive seasons. Moreover, we have also recently showed that the muscle injury rate is higher when players are given a recovery window of five days or less between two matches. Considering the congested match schedule of the upcoming WC, it is therefore likely that injuries and fatigue once again will be a topic of discussion this summer.

Zusammenfassung

Die hohe Rate an Verletzungen im professionellen Männerfußball ist bekannt. Daher startete der Europäische Fußballverband UEFA bereits im Jahr 2001 eine Verletzungsstudie. Diese Studie, die UEFA Elite Club Injury Study (ECIS), schließt aktuell Daten von insgesamt 51 Vereinen aus 18 europäischen Ländern mit mehr als 14.000 registrierten Verletzungen ein. Vor der nun anstehenden 21. Fußballweltmeisterschaft in Russland wurde in unserer Studie eine höhere Verletzungsrate in Spielen und ein höherer Anteil an schweren Verletzungen in den europäischen Turnieren identifiziert, verglichen mit den vorangegangenen Spielzeiten in Vereinswettbewerben. Zudem konnte kürzlich gezeigt werden, dass die Rate an Muskelverletzungen ansteigt, wenn Spieler einen Erholungszeitraum von 5 Tagen oder weniger zwischen den Spielen haben. Berücksichtigt man den überfüllten Spielplan der bevorstehenden Weltmeisterschaft, ist es wahrscheinlich, dass Verletzungen und Übermüdung der Spieler in diesem Sommer erneut ein wichtiges Thema sein werden.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participating clubs for their participation in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Football Research Group, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    M. Waldén, M. Hägglund, H. Bengtsson & J. Ekstrand

  2. Division of Community Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    M. Waldén & J. Ekstrand

  3. Department of Orthopaedics, Hässleholm-Kristianstad-Ystad Hospitals, Hässleholm, Sweden

    M. Waldén

  4. Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    M. Hägglund & H. Bengtsson

Authors
  1. M. Waldén
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  2. M. Hägglund
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  3. H. Bengtsson
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  4. J. Ekstrand
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Waldén.

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Conflict of interest

M. Waldén, M. Hägglund, H. Bengtsson and J. Ekstrand declare that they have no competing interests.

The study protocol was approved by the UEFA Football Development Division and the UEFA Medical Committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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W. Krutsch, Regensburg

S. Weber-Spickschen, Hannover

The Football Research Group has been established in Linköping, Sweden, in collaboration with Linköping University and through grants from the Union of European Football Associations, the Swedish Football Association, the Football Association Premier League Limited, and the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports.

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Waldén, M., Hägglund, M., Bengtsson, H. et al. Perspectives in football medicine. Unfallchirurg 121, 470–474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-018-0496-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-018-0496-5

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