Research Article A congested football calendar in competitive season: Incidence of soccer injuries in Argentine professional players *Javier Vilamitjana, Néstor Lentini, Emilio Masabeu. *CENARD (Centro Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo, National Centre of High Performance Athletics), Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Crisólogo Larralde 1050, C1429BSN, Buenos Aires, Argentina. vilamitjana@yahoo.com Abstract Purpose: To study the risk of soccer injuries in Argentine professional players with congested football calendar over two consecutive seasons. Type of study: Prospective study. Methods: One hundred and one players in Argentine professional male soccer division (23.6 ± 4.5 yrs., 75.1 ± 5.6 kg., 177.9 ± 5.9 cm.) were followed prospectively for 1 year. The players were involved in two competitions at the same time: the National League and one international competition (the Libertadores Cup or the South American Cup, depending on the time of year). An injury report system was kept by the club s medical staff for all training sessions and matches. Time-lost injuries and exposure times were recorded individually for each player from the first day of pre-season until the last training session or match. Results: A total of 239 injuries were reported during 330 days of the soccer season. The number of team matches during this period ranged from 62 to 69 (a mean of 26 matches per individual player). Sixty one players from the total (60.4 %) sustained at least one injury in the season and 52.4 % of all injuries occurred during competition. Reinjuries constituted 9.2 % of all injuries. The overall injury incidence was 9.4 injuries/1000 hours (51.5 injuries/1000 match hours and 5.3 injuries per 1000/training hours). The risk of injury varied throughout the season, with training injury incidence peaking during March and August and match injury incidence peaking during March and September. The most frequent types of injuries were muscular (55.3 %) and ligament (sprain, rupture, 16.3 %). The most prevalent diagnoses were muscular contracture (25.1 %) and thigh strain (13 %), with posterior strains being more common than anterior ones (15 vs. 4 injuries). Each month 7.9 % of the team (8 players) was not able to train or play due to injury. The mean (SD) number of days absent per injury causing limitation in training or in match participation was 12.6 ± 19.1. Conclusions: Professional soccer players who play two tournaments at the same time are exposed to a high risk of injury; 7.9 % of them were unable to play every month due to injury. The data confirm that the most common injury in soccer is the thigh strain typically involving the hamstrings. Training and match injuries incidence peaking were determined during the months immediately after pre-season period. This gives some cause for concern and it is worth further investigation. Keywords: soccer; match frequency; risk of injury, injury severity.
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