Football injuries during European Championships 2004–2005

Abstract

The risk of injury in football is high, but few studies have compared men's and women's football injuries. The purpose of this prospective study was to analyse the exposure and injury characteristics of European Championships in football and to compare data for men, women and male youth players. The overall injury incidence was fourteen times higher during match play than during training (34.6 vs. 2.4 injuries per 1000 hours, p<0.0001). There were no differences in match and training injury incidences between the championships.Teams eliminated in the women's championship had a significantly higher match injury incidence compared to teams going to the semi-finals (65.4 vs. 5.0 injuries per 1000 hours, p=0.02). Non contact mechanisms were ascribed for 41% of the match injuries. One-fifth of all injuries were severe with absence from play longer than 4 weeks.In conclusion, injury incidences during the European Championships studied were very similar and it seems thus that the risk of injury in international football is at least not -3 -higher in women than in men. The teams eliminated in the women's championship had a significantly higher match injury incidence than the teams going to the final stage.Finally, the high frequency of non contact injury is worrying from a prevention perspective and should be addressed in future studies.

Injuries in Professional Male Soccer Players in the Netherlands: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…These values agree with the findings of a UEFA injury study 12 and disagree with studies of Scandinavian professional soccer, in which recurrent injury rates varied between 22% and 30%. 13,[16][17][18] According to Ekstrand et al, 12 one explanation for the difference might be that toplevel clubs in Europe have more medical support and can provide more personalized rehabilitation for injured players. Furthermore, Bjørneboe et al 6 reported a difference in the league system in Norway and Sweden as compared with that of most European countries.…”

“…During the last 10 years, acute and overuse injuries during matches and training sessions within national professional male soccer competitions have been recorded in Denmark 13 and Sweden. [16][17][18] In view of the differences in performance level, medical support, match frequencies, and climate, it is plausible that the incidence and severity of soccer injuries may differ between Scandinavian and other European soccer leagues. 18 Therefore, our study aimed to prospectively record injuries in the Dutch premier soccer league to investigate the incidence and characteristics of injuries in male professional soccer players during 1 entire soccer season.…”

Injury evaluation of the Turkish national football team over six consecutive seasons

“…Several studies about football injuries have investigated the injury incidence and possible methods to decrease their rates. [5][6][7][8] The injuries should be identified using similar classifications in order to compare the results.…”

Match Injury Rates in Professional Soccer Vary With Match Result, Match Venue, and Type of Competition

“…10 A similar trend has also been shown in national team soccer, where teams that were eliminated in the group stage of the 2005 Women's European Championships had a higher injury rate than teams that advanced to the semifinals. 24 In addition, a few previous studies have analyzed the association between match results and injury rates, but with conflicting results. 13,18 One study showed a higher injury rate in matches lost compared with matches won or drawn, 13 as the present study indicates, while the other showed no relationship between injury rates and match results.…”