Beth Mead is among a host of players sidelined with ACL injuries, yet Fifa’s response is to add to a packed schedule
The photograph of Beth Mead and her partner and Arsenal teammate, Vivianne Miedema, on the red carpet before the England forward’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year win, illustrated a problem rocking women’s football. Both were standing there, two of the best female players on the planet, on crutches. Mead ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee in November, before Miedema, the Women’s Super League record goalscorer, did the same this month. Both will probably miss the Women’s World Cup next year in Australia and New Zealand.
Their situation is not unique. In the past year a whole host of players have missed significant portions of the season with ACL injuries. Those at the top as well as further down the pyramid have been affected.
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