Injury and illness prevention practices in Qatar's professional football clubs-implementation of the IP2 NetWork.

Abstract

Background: The Aspetar Sports Injury and Illness Prevention Programme introduced the Aspetar IP² NetWork, a customizable injury prevention programme for professional football clubs in Qatar during the 2020/2021 season. It includes 23 focus areas selected by stakeholders to prevent sports-related health issues.

Objective: To assess the real world implementation of the IP² NetWork preventive focus areas during the first season after introduction, focusing on team adoption and player compliance.

Methods: A survey was conducted among team physicians, physiotherapists and fitness coaches from the 18 professional football clubs in Qatar. The survey examined the implementation of the IP² NetWork focus areas and the roles of the different professionals in managing these areas.

Results: 17 out of 18 clubs reported using IP² focus areas, applying an average of 11.4 areas (range 4-21). The most commonly used strategies were the Nordic hamstring exercise, cold water immersion, taping and concussion prevention. Team physicians led 38% of the focus areas, followed by physiotherapists (25%) and fitness coaches (24%), with 11% managed collaboratively. Fitness coaches primarily handled exercise-based areas like warm-ups and load monitoring. Preventive measures were applied to the full squad in 81% of cases, with 19% targeting at-risk players. Player compliance was high, with 86% of focus areas adopted by all or most players, rising to 97% for players identified to be at greater risk of injury or illness.

Conclusion: Implementing the IP² focus areas was widespread among teams in Qatar, with strong collaboration between medical staff. Player compliance, especially among at-risk players, was excellent, demonstrating the programme's feasibility and effectiveness in real-world settings.