An Overview of Injuries in Senior Women’s Football in Malta Felicienne Mercieca*, Renzo Kerr Cumbo*, Dylan Seychell** Corresponding author:
[email protected] *Institute of Community Services, MCAST **Department of Arti cial Intelligence, University of Malta Abstract: The incidence of football injuries may be double the amount of injuries happening in sports such as basketball, and is estimated to range from 10 to 35 injuries per 1000 game hours. This high risk of injuries in football is evident in professional, amateur and recreational levels. Despite the signi cant increase in female participation as well as the well-known injury risks, research on women football players is very limited as most studies are still focusing on injuries experienced by the male gender there has been little research on injuries sustained by female football players. Purpose: Analysis of the incidence, characteristics and circumstances of injury in elite female football players in top-level international tournaments. Study design: Prospective survey. Methods: Injuries incurred in seven international football tournaments were analysed using an established injury report system. Doctors of all participating teams reported all injuries after each match on a standardised injury reporting form. The mean response rate was 95%. Results: 387 injuries were reported from 174 matches, equivalent to an incidence of 67.4 injuries/1000 player hours (95% CI 60.7 to 74.1. Considering the gap existing in the eld of applied research, this study has explored the rate of injuries in senior Women football players in Malta. It has also looked at the underlying causes of these injuries during the 2018/2019 season.