The rate of injuries in football, one of the most popular sports globally, has raised concerns during the past decades and warrants implementing injury prevention programmes. Those injuries impact physical and mental health and performance and have financial consequences. Luckily, research focused on reducing the risk of injuries has increased over the last two decades. Several RCTs testing various injury prevention programmes document that reducing injury risk is possible. However, the implementation process to bring these programs to practice remains challenging.
Recent studies have shown the value of the insider’s voice and the importance of qualitative research to gain insight into the complex context of injury prevention. This study, which has just got published in BOSEM, explores the experience and opinions of technical and medical staff (head coaches (HCs), fitness coaches (FCs), team doctors and physiotherapists) in professional football regarding injuries, their prevention and implementation of preventive measures. The insights gained from this study could provide practical directions on the ‘who’ and ‘how’ of injury prevention implementation. We were very lucky to closely collaborate with our colleagues in Aspetar on this latest study,
METHODS
This qualitative study followed an exploratory and practice-oriented approach. Semistructured individual interviews were conducted with technical and medical staff from the Qatar Stars League—QSL (Qatar’s premier professional football league). 22 professionals from diverse nationalities, working with 6 football teams, participated in the interviews.
RESULTS
All the participants acknowledged the importance of injury prevention. They mentioned teamwork, trust and communication as critical factors for a successful injury prevention implementation. Teams’ doctors see themselves mainly involved in the treatment and recovery process, and to a lesser degree, in the prevention process. Physiotherapists defined their primary responsibilities as screening for injury risk and providing individual exercises to players. The participants declared that the fitness coach is responsible for injury prevention implementation. All stakeholders reported that the fitness coach plays a vital role in communication by bridging the head coach and the medical staff. Stakeholders reported that the Qatari football league has a very particular context around the player, such as socioecological factors influencing injury prevention implementation.
Based on our analysis, injury prevention depends on several stakeholders with different roles. For successful injury prevention, all stakeholders must work together as a team. For a team to work effectively, it is important to establish trust, communication and cooperation in a shared-responsibility approach. The Qatari football context is characterised by factors regarding cultural aspects, environmental issues, the team itself and the Qatari league particularities.
CONCLUSIONS
The fitness coach plays a vital role in the injury prevention implementation system as one of the key actors in the process and the bridge between the medical team and the head coach, resulting from their better communication with the head coaches. The findings support considering and understanding the contextual factors during the development of preventive strategies in football.
TAKE HOME MESSAGES
The fitness coach is a critical player in injury prevention implementation in Qatari football, with a crucial role in the communication between the head coach and the medical team.
Teamwork and communication structure are influenced by context.
Cultural and environmental factors influence injury prevention implementation. Identifying key links in communication and teamwork is strategic in the prevention process.
Medical staff must first build a good relationship and communicate with the fitness coach to align them with their injury prevention strategies.
Tabben M, Verhagen E, Warsen M, Chaabane M, Schumacher Y, Alkhelaifi K, Hassanmirzaei B, Bahr R, Chamari K, Bolling C. Obstacles and opportunities for injury prevention in professional football in Qatar: exploring the implementation reality. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2023;9:e001370. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001370