ARSENAL star Vivianne Miedema has called for clubs and Fifa to put more money and effort into tackling the epidemic of ACL injuries in female players.
Earlier this month Austria international Laura Wienroither became the FOURTH Gunners player to suffer the serious knee injury this season – after Miedema, partner Beth Mead and England captain Leah Williamson.
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Miedema, 26, said: “There’s a bigger picture here. It’s not just us four, or just Arsenal.
“With me and Beth included, more than 20 per cent of last year’s Ballon d’Or nominees are out with ACL injuries right now, which is ridiculous.
“I’ve seen somewhere that so far this year in the top five leagues in women’s football in Europe, there have been 57 ACLs already. Something has to be done.
“Fifa, for me, needs to take responsibility in this issue as well. They need to look at the calendar.
“We keep adding games left, right and centre, but we don’t have the time and investment that is needed to keep players fit right now.”
Miedema says clubs, including Arsenal, must put more money into staff and resources so that female players receive the same level of support as their male counterparts.
The Dutch international, who is yet to start running again after sustaining her injury in December, said: “The biggest change compared to a couple of years ago is that instead of playing 30 games a season, we now play 60.
“Our games are increasing but the budget, for example, for the medical team, for travel, for even the tactical team, they are not increasing.
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“We now have a squad of 24 players on paper. We have two full-time physios.
“If you compare that with a men’s team, they would have nine or 10 full-time physios.
“We get put under the same stress but we don’t have the same facilities and circumstances around us.
“That’s definitely something that clubs need to look at right now.”
Arsenal are conducting their own study into the rash of ACL injuries.
Female players overall are up to six times more likely to rupture the ligament in a non-contact situation than men.
The limited research in the field suggests links to the menstrual cycle, with hormone levels at different times of the month affecting the stability of all joints, not just knees.
But Miedema says the only common factor in the four Arsenal players’ ACL injuries was that they were all having a tough time off the pitch when they got injured.
The WSL’s 78-goal record scorer said: “There are three main factors: mental health, which I think is the main one, the physical aspect of playing too many games, and then there is the menstrual cycle.
“That is the triangle that we need to start looking into.
“We are at risk, instead of being able to enjoy our game.
“A lot of girls are worried about getting injured.”
Miedema, Williamson and possibly Mead, three of the best players in the women’s game, will miss this summer’s World Cup.
Miedema said: “It is a massive blow for us individually but also for the bigger stage.
“You want your best players to be at the big tournaments.”
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