ACL injuries can be brutal. They can take a year out of the careers of athletes, and many might never get back to 100% again. In the old days — during the time of Ronaldinho, Pepe, and others — we hardly heard of ACL tears, and medicine wasn’t even as advanced as it is today. Now that medical facilities have improved to help prevent such injuries and aid athlete recovery, ACL injuries have been on the rise. The question is: why?
It boils down to poor player management by FIFA, which has now turned itself into a revenue-generating body instead of protecting players. While football should generate revenue, the safety and careers of players should be the absolute priority. It’s absurd that, despite the increase in injuries, FIFA has increased the number of games, with new competitions being introduced. No one is against playing matches, of course, but why should senseless competitions be played?
Many have argued that players earn more in the current age and so should be forced to play, but these guys are not robots. A lot of the blame is placed on the players’ teams for not rotating the squad enough. While rotation is important, it’s often difficult to find quality rotation substitutes in most positions. Most substitutes on the bench cannot match the level of first-team players and are only allowed to start in less important matches.
It’s not that clubs don’t have the money to get quality rotation options — although that’s also a factor — it’s the fact that it’s hard to find quality players who are willing to sit on the bench. Take Manchester City, for example: Erling Haaland was the main striker, and while Julián Álvarez was good, he wasn’t happy sitting on the bench — and that’s perfectly understandable given his quality, which he has shown at Atlético Madrid. In the same way, you can’t tell Victor Osimhen to sit on the bench for Mbappé simply because he plays for Real Madrid.
The ACL acts like a support structure that holds the knee together, so it’s a big deal to suffer an ACL tear, especially a complete one. Normally, when playing many games without rest, the knee is weakened and might eventually give way. Some argue that Ronaldo and Messi played loads of games, but compare the recovery periods between matches then and now — these days, players often get at most four days of rest between fixtures.
The lives and careers of players matter. So many have had their careers cut short and never returned to their previous levels because of injuries that could have been prevented.