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. 2011 Jun;45(8):626-30.
doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.079905. Epub 2011 Jan 21.

Injuries and illnesses of football players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Jiri Dvorak  1 , Astrid Junge, Wayne Derman, Martin Schwellnus
Affiliations

Injuries and illnesses of football players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Jiri Dvorak et al. Br J Sports Med. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The incidence and characteristics of football injuries during matches in top-level international tournaments are well documented, but training injuries and illnesses during this period have rarely been studied.

Aim: To analyse the incidence and characteristics of injuries and illnesses incurred during the 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup.

Methods: The chief physicians of the 32 finalist teams reported daily all newly incurred injuries and illnesses of their players on a standardised medical report form.

Results: Out of 229 injuries reported, 82 match and 58 training injuries were expected to result in time loss, equivalent to an incidence of 40.1 match and 4.4 training injuries per 1000 h. Contact with another player was the most frequent cause of match (65%) and of training (40%) injuries. The most frequent diagnoses were thigh strain and ankle sprain. 99 illnesses of 89 (12%) players were reported. Illnesses were mainly infections of the respiratory or the digestive system. Most illnesses did not result in absence from training or match. The incidence of time-loss illnesses was 3.0 per 1000 player days.

Conclusion: The incidence of match injuries during the 2010 FIFA World Cup was significantly lower than in the three proceeding World Cups. This might be a result of more regard to injury prevention, less foul play and stricter refereeing. Tackling skills and fair play need to be improved to prevent contact injuries in training and matches. Prevention of illness should focus on reducing the risk of infections by considering the common modes of transmission and environmental conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of injuries during the course of the match (n=114; for four injuries in the second half the exact minute was not specified; for seven injuries information is missing).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average number of injuries per match in Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cups 1998–2010 (grey: all injuries; black: time-loss injuries).–
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • [Sports Medicine].
    Mayer F. Mayer F. Orthopade. 2013 Mar;42(3):187-9. doi: 10.1007/s00132-013-2079-z. Orthopade. 2013. PMID: 23493997 German. No abstract available.

References

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