The Effect of The FIFA 11+ Program on Kinematical Risk Factors related to Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Utilizing Soccer-Specific Landing Task in Elite Male Youth Soccer Players

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common in soccer and motion patterns are believed to play a key role in the incidence of non-contact ACL injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the FIFA 11+ program on kinematical risk factors related to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and durability of the results in male elite-youth soccer players. Twenty- four male soccer players (mean ± SD: age = 16.79 ± 1.18 years, height = 174.17 ± 8.12 cm, mass = 62.45 ± 10.01 kg, experience = 6.96 ± 1.26 years) participated in this study and randomly were divided into two groups, intervention and control (n = 12 per group). The experimental group performed the FIFA 11+ program 3 times per week for 8 weeks whereas the control group just performed their regular warm-up program. The mixed-repeated measure showed that there was a significant improvement in the landing pattern between the pre-test and post-test for the 11+ group (P=0.006) while no significant was found improvement between the post-test and retention-test; after one month of post-test (P=0.146). It can be concluded that the FIFA 11+ program can improve the landing pattern during the real-world scenario in male elite-youth soccer players and this likely can be effective in reducing non-contact ACL injuries. However, due to the failure to maintain the effects of this program on the landing pattern, the necessity of continuation of performing the 11+ program is felt.