22/10/2025
⚽️ACL INJURIES IN FEMALE FOOTBALLERS‼️
This seems to be a ‘hot topic’ at the moment, but why?
Firstly, why are footballers more at risk of ACL injuries?
Simply - it is due to the demands of the sport - pivoting, decelerating, jumping and landing. Around 85% of ACL injuries in football are non-contact.
Secondly, why are females more at risk of ACL injuries?
This is more complicated. Females exhibit different movement patterns and are anatomically different to men. Females have a great Q angle (the angle between the quad muscles and patella tendon) which increases the risk of the knee collapsing inwards - which can lead to an ACL injury.
Women experience hormonal fluctuation through the menstrual cycle which can lead to joint laxity.
Environment and social factors often mean that women play sport in substandard conditions such as uneven pitches with poor maintenance, and, equipment such as boots are still designed in line with male anatomy.
The infrastructure around female sport is less supportive and structured which can lead to over training or under training and ultimately an increased injury risk.
This puts female footballers at the highest risk of ACL injuries - statistics show that they are 2 to 8 times more likely to sustain an ACL injury than their male counterparts.
FIFA is currently funding more research into the role of hormonal fluctuations in the rise of ACL injuries.
This is very important because as the women’s game grows, we need more evidence so that more can be done to reduce the risk of these potentially career-ending injuries.
