Women's Schedule Must Change For Player Safety - Miedema

Manchester City guardant Vivianne Miedema has criticised nan women's shot schedule, and called for those successful complaint of nan almanac to make changes prioritising "players' beingness and intelligence safety".

The 28-year-old is having rehabilitation aft suffering a perchance season-ending hamstring wounded while connected world work for nan Netherlands astatine nan opening of April.

Earlier this play she was sidelined for much than 3 months pinch a knee injury, while successful her last 2 seasons astatine Arsenal she only made 8 Women's Super League (WSL) appearances aft tearing nan anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) successful her near knee successful December 2022.

Writing connected Instagram, Miedema said: "It took maine a mates of days to get my caput astir being injured again and to find nan needed information to commencement rehab.

"I've been really impatient and I want it to spell quicker, but possibly that's because I yet felt for illustration myself again retired location and I enjoyed being connected nan transportation moreover though games travel speedy and hard.

"I will opportunity this complete and complete again. To nan group successful complaint of nan shot calendar, it is clip to realise nan existent schedule will request to alteration for players' beingness and intelligence safety."

Miedema's Manchester City person been immersed successful nan engaged schedule of late, playing 8 matches successful 29 days passim March arsenic they competed successful 4 competitions.

She featured successful each 8 earlier sustaining her wounded during nan Netherlands' Women's Nations League lucifer pinch Austria connected 8 April, having besides played for nan nationalist broadside 4 days earlier.

Including Miedema, head Nick Cushing's broadside person 9 first-team players retired injured or, successful nan cases of Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp, only precocious returning to training pursuing semipermanent absences.

However, concerns astir nan schedule and subordinate information are not restricted to Manchester City.

In April 2024, players' national Fifpro and nan Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) launched a collaboration pinch Leeds Beckett University to accelerate investigation into reducing ACL injuries successful women's football.

ACL injuries are 2 to six times much apt to hap successful women than men, and astir two-thirds of them successful women's shot hap erstwhile location is nary beingness contact. However, location is constricted knowing of really to trim their wave successful nan master game.

Last July, meanwhile, Fifpro, together pinch apical European leagues, launched ineligible action against world governing assemblage Fifa over its "abuse of dominance" successful nan game.

They revenge a title to nan European Commission to protect subordinate use pursuing unit from leagues and subordinate unions complete nan number of matches added to nan calendar.