There are a number of players who will miss the FIFA World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 due to injury. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Fran Kirby (England), Vivian Miedema (Netherlands), Delphine Cascarino, Marie-Antoinette Cattotto (France), Janine Beckie (Canada), and Katarina Macario (USA) are among the star players who play for some of the world’s top clubs. They have been ruled out due to torn anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) in their knees. It’s a devastating injury that can sideline professional athletes for nearly a year, and not just in soccer.

In a recent report, the BBC quoted Sarah Walsh, the head of women’s soccer for World Cup co-host Australia, as calling for more research into ACL injuries in women’s soccer. Walsh, who suffered a serious knee injury while playing 70 games for the Australian national team, said, “In the last 100 years, there has been less investment (in female soccer player injuries). They’ve been treated like little men,” she said.

In fact, studies have shown that ACL injuries are up to eight times more common among female athletes in soccer and other sports that involve sharp changes in direction. Last year, nearly 60 players in the world’s top women’s 스포츠토토 professional soccer leagues reported anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Team physician Dr. Mark Cullen, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of New Hampshire, told a media outlet that women’s anatomy, with its wider pelvis, is not conducive to good knee mechanics. Muscles that don’t absorb as much force when landing as male athletes also increase the risk of injury. Other theories include hormones and women’s menstrual cycles.

“High-performance (physical) environments like sports are still very male-dominated,” Walsh said, emphasizing the need for research to protect female athletes from knee injuries.