What is the impact of injuries on professional football players? On the second day of the Thinking Football Summit 2024, four top doctors from Portuguese football clubs took to the stage at The Academy to share their insights on the challenges they face in their daily work. The panel included Dr. Pedro Miguel Prata (Boavista FC), Dr. Nelson Puga (FC Porto), Dr. Luís Moreno (SL Benfica), and Dr. João Pedro Araújo (Sporting SC), with the discussion moderated by Miguel Gouveia de Brito, CEO of TrueClinic.

Dr. Pedro Miguel Prata opened the session by discussing how the "industrialization of football" has led to an overloaded schedule, which in turn increases the risk of player injuries. This set the stage for further discussion, with Dr. Nelson Puga emphasizing the high number of games players must endure in a single season.

“If we go as far as possible in all competitions, we’ll play 72 games,” he explained. “Then there’s the Club World Cup, and if you add national team commitments with four FIFA breaks, it’s more than 80 games in total. It’s brutal. We need to balance the calendar, enforce rules that limit consecutive games, and address the 72-hour recovery period, because players aren’t fully recovered by then.”

Dr. João Pedro Araújo highlighted the financial impact of player injuries on clubs. “The calendar is very tight, and muscle recovery doesn’t happen within three days. More games lead to higher injury risks, which can prevent players from contributing to the team. This, in turn, affects results and can have financial consequences for the club.”

The discussion also touched on the impact of the heavy game load on young athletes. Dr. Luís Moreno from SL Benfica expressed concern about the long-term effects on young players' careers: “There’s more investment in youth training, but the physical demands on kids today are unprecedented. The strain on their bodies is immense, and exposing them to so many games and so much fatigue could limit their potential as professional players.”

Manuel Gomes (Professor Neca), Vice President of the ANTF, and Helton, Ambassador of Liga Portugal, added broader perspectives on injury management in football.

“The players’ ‘confessional’ is the medical department, and modern athletes are more professionally aware, taking better care of their physical health. There needs to be a balance between doctors, coaches, and players to maximize performance,” said Manuel Gomes. Helton shared personal experiences from his career, supporting the need for revised game calendars and prioritizing player recovery after each match.