Medical research
Monday, March 18, 2024
Article summary
Continuous research keeps us ahead of the game, both in adapting sports medicine to the changing needs of modern footballers and by improving our understanding of injuries.
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Article body
With the expert support of specialist doctors and professors, we are conducting several important studies to increase the health and safety of players taking part in our competitions.
Injury study
Since 2001, we have run a research programme which assesses player safety throughout each edition of the men’s and women’s Champions Leagues. By monitoring risk and severity, patterns and trends, we have deepened our knowledge of sports injuries. In 2004, the programme was expanded to cover teams participating in the EUROs with the Nations League added in 2022/23.
We deliver mid-season and end-of-season reports to each participating club for performance benchmarking; national teams receive a report after our tournament finals.
DownloadsUEFA elite club injury study (2019/20)
UEFA women's elite club injury study (2019/20)
Concussion and head injuries study
After several high-profile concussions occurred in UEFA competitions, we launched our first concussion awareness campaign in 2019 to educate players, coaches, doctors, referees and the wider public on how to respond to a head injury during a match. We also require every team taking part in our competitions to sign the UEFA Concussion Charter, which lays out best practice criteria for managing concussion.
"We hope that the campaign will raise greater awareness of the need to take all head injuries seriously."
UEFA also supports an international research group made up of associations and universities from four countries: the Norwegian Football Association, the Turkish Football Federation, the Croatian Football Federation and the German Football Association, The Arctic University in Tromsø, Acıbadem University, Split University and Saarland University. In 2023, the group was awarded an Erasmsus+ grant to strengthen concussion awareness, prevention and management models across European youth football.
Our pre-competition medical examinations now include neurological baseline screenings so doctors can assess players’ well-being after they sustain a head injury. We have also introduced a Medical Video Review System (MVRS) which allows doctors to instantly check the mechanics behind a potential concussion.
In June 2020, UEFA issued heading guidelines for national associations, coaches and parents to safeguard young footballers. These were drawn up by our Medical Committee and our heading guidelines expert panel.
UEFA Medical Research Grant Programme
Supported by the UEFA Academy, a Medical Research Grant Programme (MRGP) is designed for academics conducting research into football players’ health and wellbeing that will guide medical decision-making. We offer up to €30,000 for general research into women’s football for a duration of one year. Once completed, the studies are shared with all 55 European associations.