Lena Oberdorf is one of 16 Bundesliga players who suffered a torn cruciate ligament in the past few weeks and months. Women have a significantly higher risk than men, says an expert. But research still has a lot of work to do.
The national players in particular suffer with Lena Oberdorf. “What we can’t do alone, we can do together“, wrote DFB captain Giulia Gwinn on Instagram under a photo on her story, which showed the duo from FC Bayern hugging closely.
Oberdorf’s second cruciate ligament tear within 15 months once again raises the question: Why does this knee injury happen more often to female soccer players than to their male colleagues? And: is enough being done about it? All you can do is appeal,”to keep at it, research and then see what more you can do to prevent it“said Nia Künzer on the sidelines of a DFB training session in Düsseldorf.
Künzer with four cruciate ligament tears, Oberdorf and Gwinn with two each
The sports director of the German Football Association and former world champion had a cruciate ligament tear four times in her career. Like Oberdorf, Gwinn has two.
Also National striker Hoffmann and goalkeeper Frohms affected
Most recently, the German European Championship striker Giovanna Hoffmann was caught at RB Leipzig and the former DFB goalkeeper Merle Frohms at Real Madrid. “That scares everyone a little bit right now when you open your phone and somehow every day you have a new injury on your phone“, said Oberdorf’s Bayern and DFB colleague Alara Sehitler.
In any case, national coach Christian Wück, who will have to do without his Munich world-class player for a long time, is sounding the alarm. The 52-year-old recently spoke to his French colleague Laurent Bonadei. He has experienced three cruciate ligament ruptures among his players in the past three months alone.
“Topic that we obviously have to think about”
“This is an issue that we obviously have to think about“, said Wück before the semi-final first leg of the German footballers against France on Friday (5.45 p.m./live on Erste and in the live stream at sportschau.de) in Düsseldorf – and even before Oberdorf’s serious injury.
“Why is that? Is it a women’s football problem in general? Whether it is an overload problem?“It’s not just Wück who asks himself these questions:”It doesn’t just affect us, other nations have the same problems. Overall, we have to think about how we can get a better medical grip on this.“
Sports director Nia Künzer and national coach Christian Wück
Künzer points out that the conditions have changed since her active days “vastly improved“have.”We have of course made incredible progress in the medical, athletic and physical areas“, said the 45-year-old: “Nevertheless, we have to recognize that the injury still occurs at a certain frequency.”
16 cases in the Bundesliga
According to the “Soccerdonna” portal, a total of 16 players are currently missing from the 14 Bundesliga teams due to a torn cruciate ligament.
The most prominent failures besides Oberdorf and Hoffmann are Bayern regular Sarah Zadrazil and Frankfurt goalkeeper Sophia Winkler.
Expert: “Significantly increased risk in women”
“FFor various reasons, athletes have a significantly increased risk of suffering from cruciate ligament injuries in sports and especially in football“, said Ingo Froböse from the Cologne Sports University: “Science assumes that the risk is at least twice as high. Some sources even say the risk is five to six times higher.“
“Early training in landing technique, strength and body stabilization reduces the risk of cruciate ligament injuries“, explained Thomas Tischer from the Society for Orthopedic-Traumatological Sports Medicine, because: “Cruciate ligament injuries are among the most serious injuries with the longest downtime.”
Expert: “Early gender specific train”
Rebecca Singer, head of the gender-sensitive medicine working group at the German Society for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, complains about another deficit: “Many training plans are based on male norms. To avoid injuries, young athletes should train gender-specific early on.”
There are many reasons for more cruciate ligament tears in women
Froböse from the Cologne Sports University summarizes the causes that have been researched so far: “Anatomical reasons such as a tendency to have slightly knock-knees in women, a tighter bony alignment of the cruciate ligament, less muscle mass, weaker connective tissue.“
The cruciate ligament is usually thinner in women, and hormonal influences such as menstruation would weaken it further. Often there is a slightly different movement, mechanics and processes than in men due to the given anatomical and physiological structure – “which also causes increased stress on the cruciate ligament“.
Evaluation of the DFB
The DFB registered a total of 26 cruciate ligament tears in the 1st and 2nd women’s Bundesliga in the 2023/24 season. The evaluation is carried out via a central injury register, which is under the scientific direction of the Regensburg University Hospital. The figures for the 2024/2025 season are still pending.
Regardless of this, all injury situations and patterns will be analyzed, the DFB said.
More vulnerable in career phases with a lot of stress? Leonard Achenbach – the Munich orthopedist and trauma surgeon is the coordinator of football medicine at the DFB and looks after the women of FC Bayern – speaks of a suspicion that there is “Career phases with a lot of stress“An increasing number of cruciate ligament tears occur.
But this still needs to be scientifically proven: “These assumptions are currently based solely on empirical values; a well-founded scientific analysis is still pending.“
Cross-gender Research into causes at UEFA
UEFA has made research into the causes – across gender – the top priority of its Medical and Anti-Doping Department. She supports a project in which affected players can share their personal stories. In this way, new insights could be gained.
Cycle oriented Training is intended to prevent
The world association FIFA is funding a study at the English University of Kingston on the influence of the menstrual cycle on the risk of injury in top-class sport. The DFB is also committed to cycle-oriented training, which is already being used in many clubs.
But female soccer players not only suffer cruciate ligament tears more often, but also take longer than male professionals before they are able to play again. Oberdorf only returned more than a year after her first serious knee injury.