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Another big name in Women's football suffers a ruptured ACL
Barely six months after leading England to glory in the 2022 UEFA Women's Championship, Arsenal and England’s Beth Mead has become the latest in a worrying list of female footballers to succumb to the gruesome anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
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The ACL problem in women's football
She joins an illustrious list of players that includes Lyon’s trio of Ada Hegerberg, Dzsenifer Marozsan, and Catarina Macario, PSG’s Sara Dabritz and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, as well as current Ballon d’Or Feminin holder Alexia Putellas, who have all been ruled out by the same injury, while Chelsea’s Danish sensation Pernille Harder has suffered the injury three times already.
The frequent spate of ACL injuries among female players has become a worrying trend that threatens to slow the pace of the growth of the game as a whole, and with another name added to the long roster of players to suffer injuries, we must ask, what can be done, and how soon can it be done?
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Even as the football world tries to come to terms with yet another injury to a major female footballer, it has been revealed that female players are four to six times more likely to suffer from ACL ruptures during their careers than their male counterparts due to various factors.
From an increase in oestrogen levels during the menstrual cycle to differences in physiology and anatomy, like wider hips and smaller ligaments, to a lack of proper training across age levels for female players, deficient equipment and access to healthcare, and different pitch surfaces.
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However, as no definite cause has been pinpointed, no real solutions have been proffered or implemented.
What next for Mead and Arsenal?
Mead will now miss the rest of Arsenal’s FA WSL season, and the length of the injury has also put her participation in the 2023 World Cup in doubt.
After winning the golden boot and providing the most assists at the UEFA Women's Championship, and rightfully winning the Player of the Tournament award, Mead will now have to watch from the sidelines as Arsenal fight for an FA WSL title that marginally eluded them last season, as well as a UEFA Women’s Champions League title that they have not won since 2007.
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