Arsenal duo Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema are joining forces with FIFA to delve deeper into the growing concern of ACL injuries plaguing women's football. As reported by the BBC, both players, who faced ACL setbacks in 2022, are aiming to shed light on the issue and drive impactful research initiatives.
Mead, who was a Ballon d'Or runner-up in 2022 and stood out as the top scorer at the Euros, expressed her commitment to addressing ACL injuries that have sidelined several players, including her and Miedema, from major tournaments. Notably, Mead and Miedema's collaboration comes on the heels of their recent return to club action after recovering from their injuries.
The urgency to tackle ACL injuries is underscored by the unfortunate string of incidents, with prominent players like Chelsea's Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel, along with Arsenal's Leah Williamson, falling victim to the injury this year alone.
Step by Step. An Arsenal original documentary series. 🎬
Follow Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema as they recover from ACL injuries and explore why this issue remains so prevalent in the women’s game.
Daily episodes from December 18. pic.twitter.com/Su7Oc5L2P0— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) December 12, 2023
“There were a few ACL injuries in the World Cup and there’s been quite a few since this season,” Mead said. “We brought our documentary out to bring it to light a little bit better. Off the back of that, we’ve linked up with a few more [people].
“Hopefully we can get more data put out there and more specific information rather than just taking a survey that people do online in 10 or 15 minutes. We can be a bit more specific and nail down on it.”
With insights gained from her recovery process, Mead has noted the multifaceted nature of ACL injuries, noting the critical role of factors like mental stress and scheduling in injury occurrence. Drawing from her personal experience, she echoed Chelsea manager Emma Hayes' observation that the transition period between club and country duties poses a heightened risk for ACL injuries:
“It’s funny how much knowledge you actually get throughout [ACL injury recovery]. I saw [Chelsea manager] Emma Hayes’ interview and I thought it was interesting what she said about the 10 days between swapping from club and country [being the most dangerous time for ACL injuries], Mead said.
“Mine was actually in that period. I’d just come back from England and transferred to club that weekend. I do believe the stress, mental components and the scheduling are big, big factors that affect this injury.”
'We felt it was important to share our journey' 🙌
Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema reflect on their ACL injury recoveries 👇 pic.twitter.com/w5SB0jzFI9— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) December 20, 2023
Mead also told the BBC: "I don't want to keep going back to ACL injuries but a lot of them have been coming about since the schedules got a lot more hectic and I do believe that is a big factor. Something needs to be done for the welfare of the players, whether that's us as players that have to fight for that or not."
"Fifa and Uefa have got a lot of different scheduling issues between them and we get caught in the middle which is probably not fair. We've just got to be a little bit more realistic with how players and teams are meant to do it on such a consistent basis."
As Mead and Miedema embark on this collaborative endeavour with FIFA, they aim to leverage their platform to advocate for greater awareness and research into ACL injuries, ultimately striving to enhance player safety and well-being across women's football.
