Future treatments for football injuries

Football, or soccer as it is called in North America, is the most popular sport in the world, with about 200 million participants [1]. It is characterized by a complex collection of movements including running, short sprints, rapid deceleration, turning, kicking, and tackling. These characteristics predispose participants to the relatively high injury rate of 12-35 injuries per 1,000 player game hours in adult men's football [2]. The lower extremities are more often injured. Muscular strains are the most common traumatic injuries in football players, followed by contusions and ligamentous sprains [2-4]. All these injuries have an impact on the players' lives and hinder them from participating in training and matches. Furthermore, injuries can lead to a 22% re-injury rate [3].Moreover, injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears may force a player into retiring early. ACL tears can have a rate as high as 0.41 tears per 1,000 game hours at the male competitive level [5]. In addition to the injury and its consequences for the players, associated costs of treatment are also a relevant issue [2]. Therefore, it is important to know about preventive methods to avoid injuries, as well as future types of treatment using modern biological approaches.