Risk factor | Prevention (P) and therapeutic (T) risk mitigation action |
---|---|
Intrinsic factors | |
Participant-related | |
Age determination | Developed MRI examination technique for assessing the age of players taking part in FIFA U-17 tournaments (P)50 |
Drugs/medication | Prepared a guidance document on doping in football (P)51 |
Defined drug-testing procedures and publication of doping results in football (P)52 | |
Established a network of F-MARC Doping Control Officers and doping control workshops for physicians (P)52 | |
Concussion | Prepared consensus statements on diagnosis, treatment and return-to-play criteria for concussion in sport (T)53–55 |
Functional rehabilitation | Proposed technique for quantifying functional rehabilitation from injury (T)56 |
Gender | Prepared a guidance document on health and fitness for female players (P)57 |
Medical history | Developed and implemented a precompetition medical assessment protocol for professional players (P)58 |
Reviewed the best practice procedures for the management of on-field sudden cardiac arrest (T)59 | |
Physical condition | Developed, implemented and evaluated an injury prevention educational programme for youth players (P)60 |
Developed, implemented and evaluated the ‘11+’ injury prevention programme for players (P)61 | |
Developed, implemented and evaluated an ACL injury prevention programme for female players (P)62 | |
Psycho-social | Continued promotion of the FIFA ‘fair play’ campaign to encourage all aspects of fair play and respect for others (P)63 |
Tackling | Recommended to IFAB that tackling from behind should be a red card offence in 1998 (P) |
Recommended to IFAB that the use of the elbow to the head when tackling should be a red card offence in 2006 (P) | |
Extrinsic factors | |
Facility-related | |
Medical facilities | Established FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence to provide expert medical support for players in 2005 (T) |
Playing surface | Developed the ‘FIFA Quality Concept for Football Turf’ to ensure that the risk of injury on artificial turf pitches is no greater than on natural grass surfaces (P)64 |
Stadium design | Developed design criteria for football stadiums that took into account player safety (P)65 |
Specified safe design of goalposts in the Laws of the Game (P)66 | |
Equipment-related | |
Footballs | Developed the ‘FIFA International Matchball Standard’ to ensure that footballs reach and maintain standards for parameters such as weight, water absorption and pressure (P)67 |
Environment-related | |
Altitude | Prepared a consensus statement on playing football at altitude (P)68 |
Being tackled | Recommended to IFAB that tackling from behind should be a red card offence in 1998 (P) |
Recommended to IFAB that the use of the elbow to the head when tackling should be a red card offence in 2006 (P) | |
Ramadan/nutrition | Prepared a guidance document on nutrition for footballers (P)69 |
Temperature | Prepared a position statement on playing football in hot environments (P)70 |
ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association; F-MARC, FIFA's Medical Assessment and Research Centre; IFAB International Football Association Board.