| Abstract: | FIFA has a Medical and Research Centre (F‐MARC) which has designed a comprehensive program targeting muscle strength, kinesthetic awareness, and neuromuscular control during static and dynamic movements to decrease injury risk for soccer players. A number of meta‐analyses now exist on how effective FIFA's programs to prevent and reduce injury actually are, with various degrees of injury reduction reported. This research aimed to carry out a systematic review and to meta‐analyse the existing meta‐analyses so that a conclusion can be drawn on how effective the injury programs are. Relevant studies were identified by searching five databases for the period January 1990 till 1 July 2018. Results of each meta‐analysis were combined together using risk ratios (RR) in a summary meta‐analysis. QUOROM checklist and AMSTAR 2 assessment were used to assess the quality of reporting and methodology in the meta‐analyses. Four meta‐analyses met the inclusion criteria covering fifteen primary studies. All four meta‐analyses scored quite highly on QUOROM, but two were rated by AMSTAR 2 as moderate quality, and two were found to be of critically low quality. An overall risk reduction in 34% (RR = 0.66 [0.60‐0.73]) for all injuries and a reduction in 29% (RR = 0.71 [0.63‐0.81]) for injuries to the lower limbs were revealed by this meta‐analysis of meta‐analyses. Combining every previous meta‐analysis into a single source in this paper produced decisive evidence that the risk of injuries while playing soccer is reduced as a result of FIFA's injury prevention programs. |
