Beath Mead and Vivianne Miedema are set to work with FIFA to help further understand ACL injuries in women’s football, according to the BBC.
Both sustained ACL injuries at the end of 2022, forcing them to miss last year’s Women’s World Cup. They also both recently returned to club action.
Prior to her injury, Mead was runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 2022, having been the top scorer at the Euros tournament that year. The duo, who both play for Arsenal, have spoken out about ACL injuries in women’s soccer.
The number of injuries continues to grow, with Chelsea strikers Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel having both picked up ACL injuries this year. Arsenal defender Leah Williamson also missed last summer’s World Cup with a tear.
“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.”
Mead said that she’s learned a lot about ACL injuries in the last year, but the “million dollar question” is what is causing them.
“Someone has got to be very rich to figure out how to stop these injuries,” she added. “There’s no definitive answer on how to stop it and I think that’s the frustrating part. We do feel the responsibility. There’s a lot of us that have power in a good way to try to help and push on with the research.
“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].
“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.”
Mead has since returned to the England squad, saying that she’s “getting into a good swing,” although it’s hard not to compare herself to when she was at her best.
“Even when I first started training, stuff that I knew I was always good at, was a little bit different. I’d still be so critical of myself,” she said. “It’s a tough injury. You look at everyone and they come back differently.”