Anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention in female football players
Fernando, Warnakulasuriya Charuka Palinda Deshan; Mohamed Shiraz, Abdul Rahman (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025051411520
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025051411520
Tiivistelmä
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are amongst the most debilitating injuries a football player can face, and they are highly prevalent in the women’s game and lead to recurrent instability, meniscus tears, and osteoarthritis. Female players are at a higher risk of ACL injuries. The rate of ACL rupture is three times higher in female athletes compared to male athletes.
The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to investigate preventive methods in anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female football players. This is done by a systemic search process and search was conducted using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL databases between 2020 and 2025. The search words used are ("anterior cruciate ligament" OR ACL) AND injury AND prevention AND female OR women AND (soccer OR football).
In this literature review 712 articles were identified from three databases, out of which 10 eligible full-text articles were included in this bachelor's thesis. Structured injury prevention programs, including neuromuscular training, plyometrics, strength training, and balance exercises, have proven effective in reducing ACL injuries among female football players. Programs like FIFA 11+ and Knäkontroll have been successful, but challenges like adherence and infrastructure limitations remain.
Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament, injury, prevention, female, women, soccer, football, Exercise
The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to investigate preventive methods in anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female football players. This is done by a systemic search process and search was conducted using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL databases between 2020 and 2025. The search words used are ("anterior cruciate ligament" OR ACL) AND injury AND prevention AND female OR women AND (soccer OR football).
In this literature review 712 articles were identified from three databases, out of which 10 eligible full-text articles were included in this bachelor's thesis. Structured injury prevention programs, including neuromuscular training, plyometrics, strength training, and balance exercises, have proven effective in reducing ACL injuries among female football players. Programs like FIFA 11+ and Knäkontroll have been successful, but challenges like adherence and infrastructure limitations remain.
Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament, injury, prevention, female, women, soccer, football, Exercise