Scotland manager Pedro Martinez Losa believes that ‘dense’ fixture schedules explains the disproportionate number of ACL injuries in women’s football.
ACL injuries are eight times more likely to be suffered by female players than male players.
It is also believed that between 25 and 30 players missed last summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup as a result of an ACL injury, enough for an entire team’s squad.
The Scotland boss is currently without Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir and Manchester United’s Emma Watson, who have both been sidelined by ACL injuries.
Speaking today, he said: “ACL injuries are happening eight times more in the women’s game than in the men’s game and there is a clear gap of data and research.
“Clearly, in my honest opinion, the acceleration in the women’s game is causing an increase in the demands of the players.
“We are in a scenario where the acceleration is happening faster than probably the adaptation of the athletes to these demands.”
Last season, there were 57 reported ACL injuries to female players in Europe’s six major leagues.
The Scottish Women’s Premier League also reported 17 ACL injuries last year.
The national team boss blames fixture-heavy schedules and a lack of recovery time between matches.
He added: “We analyse our calendars, and the high density of games doesn’t allow time for our players to put in the time in training.
“We are just managing players, we are not having the time to work with the athletes, to work with our teams.
“So, football is about having six days of time where we can work on developing the athletes… when you are shortening these times, the risk of injury increases massively and when you shorten this time the capability for players to perform decreases massively. This is research, scientific research.”
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