In conclusion, there is still a lack of studies in injury prevention among female footballers, and one reason could be that
there is limited knowledge of the causes and mechanisms of injuries, which again makes it difficult to develop targeted preventive
measures. There is a need for increased focus on the prevention of injuries in football in general and in women’s football
in particular.
A specific training programme called F-MARC 11 has recently been designed by an expert group within the FIFA Medical Assessment
Research Centre (F-MARC) in order to prevent the four most common injury types in football, i.e. injuries to the ankles, knees,
groin, and hamstrings, respectively. The programme is developed on the basis of established principles for rehabilitation
of such injuries. It is a time-efficient programme (15–20 min) and is designed to be part of a warm-up period at each training
session. F-MARC 11 should replace similar exercises, which are often done during warm-up. The programme includes the ten exercises
within core training, balance training, dynamic stabilisation, and eccentric hamstring training.
There are now ongoing projects in Switzerland (senior football, men’s and women’s) and in Norway (female youth football) using
F-MARC 11 as a preventive strategy to reduce the high number of injuries in football.