ACL injury response in women's sport 'disparate and slow', says select committee

The response to the crisis of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in women's sports has been «disparate and slow», according to a report by a select committee.

Several top female footballers, including England captain Leah Williamson and her Lionesses teammate Beth Mead, have suffered from ACL injuries. Arsenal star Williamson was out of action for nine months before returning in January. The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) found «systemic gender inequality» in how sports and exercise research is conducted. They urged the Government to form a task force to create a long-term strategy to address health and physiology-related issues in sportswomen.

The report summary stated: «Scrutiny of the ongoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury issue in women's football has shown that there is systemic gender inequality in sports and exercise research, which is still overwhelmingly conducted by men, looking at issues affecting men.

»The sports science sector's response to the ACL issue has been disparate and slow. We have no doubt that a health issue of similar magnitude affecting elite male footballers would have received a faster, more thorough, and better co-ordinated response."

UEFA, the governing body for European football, has formed a panel of women's health experts to investigate ACL injuries. Their long-term aim is to reach a consensus on prevention and management by summer, as well as update the ACL injury prevention programme. A study published last year by the British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery revealed that women are up to eight times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than men. The paper suggested hormonal factors could increase the risk of injury, but admitted that data on this