Beth Mead to spearhead FIFA task force aiming tackle plague of knee injuries

Beth Mead is set to lead a FIFA task force which will attempt to tackle the plague of knee injuries affecting the women's game as England's Georgia Stanway admitted players risk 'burnout' unless the schedule is rectified.

Mead is one of many top players to have ruptured their anterior cruciate ligament in the last few years, with Chelsea strikers Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel sustaining the same injury in the last two months.

Research suggests fatigue and loading is one of several risk factors and the Arsenal forward is working with FIFA alongside her team-mate and partner Vivianne Miedema, who ruptured her ACL in 2022 - three weeks after Mead.

'There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes which is great,' said Mead.

'Me and Viv are going to be taking part in stuff with FIFA and a little bit more speaking to people who have done their ACLs and how they feel about it.'

She continued: ‘We brought a documentary out to bring it to light a little bit better. Off the back of that, we’ve linked up with a few more [people] so hopefully we can get a little bit more data put out there and a little bit more specific information.

‘If you’ve seen the documentary, we sat down with people who specialise in certain fields and we can talk for hours about certain things but there’s no definitive answer of how to stop it and I think that’s the frustrating part. We do feel the responsibility. There’s a lot of us that have power in a good way to try and help and push on and help with the research.

‘I do believe that the stress and mental component and the scheduling are two big, big factors that affect this injury, from what’s come from what we’ve done.’

The Lionesses failed to qualify for the Olympics on behalf of Team GB but still face international camps in June and July due to Euro 2025 qualifying.

With some clubs also set to be involved in Champions League qualifiers in early September, many players will miss out on a full summer of rest.

Several members of the England squad have played in three back-to-back tournaments - the 2021 Olympics, Euro 2022 and last summer’s World Cup - while others played in youth tournaments before that.

Stanway admitted England’s players are at risk of burnout.

‘When we didn't qualify for the Olympics we thought it was the perfect opportunity to have the summer off, maybe travel a bit further,’ Stanway said.

‘We realise it's not quite as simple as that but the best thing we can do is work with countries and clubs to find the best solution.

‘Hopefully the best solution is giving us a good enough time of rest but also the most important thing is we want to qualify for Euro 2025 - we will do anything to put ourselves in the best possible position to go to that tournament.

‘It is a potential burnout but football is our life. Everything we do is to be successful on the pitch.’