Author: Alfred Ferré‐Aniorte et al
Journal: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy (2025)

AI written summary

This longitudinal epidemiological study analysed 3381 ACL injuries recorded across 782,856 player-seasons in Catalonia over six consecutive soccer seasons (2016–2022). The researchers examined ACL injury incidence by sex and age category.

Overall ACL injury incidence was 0.43%, but clear sex differences emerged. Female players showed a 2.79-times higher ACL injury incidence than males (1.06% vs 0.38%)—yet this discrepancy only appeared from age 14 and older. The Under-16 category showed the greatest gap: females had 3.56 times higher incidence than males.
Moreover, ACL injury risk increased with age for both sexes, peaking in the Over-19 group.

Seasonal trends showed that male players experienced a significant rise in ACL injury incidence from 2016/17 to 2021/22, whereas female players did not, with their incidence slightly decreasing.
Across the season, October and January were the months with the highest injury concentrations—likely reflecting return-to-play phases after breaks.

The study highlights the importance of sex- and age-specific prevention strategies, especially for female players aged 14–16, and emphasises the value of well-structured injury-prevention programmes such as FIFA 11+.