Research summary · Recovery and rehabilitation
Return-to-play criteria after football muscle injury
A systematic review maps the criteria and frameworks used to clear football players after muscle injury.
- Publication year
- 2026
- First published online
- Publication type
- Systematic review
- Journal
- Sports Medicine
- Population / context
- Football · Professional players
What the publication reports
Ten studies reported a median of six criteria, commonly absence of pain, at least 90% strength symmetry and functional testing. Psychological readiness and field or GPS monitoring appeared more often in newer multifactorial frameworks.
Limits and interpretation
Evidence was mostly consensus-based and low level, reinjury was rarely reported and criteria were not prospectively validated against outcomes. No single checklist is established as definitive.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
The Criteria and Design for Return-to-Play Following Muscle Injury in Football are Not Standardized: A Systematic Review Including Descriptive Analysis of RTP Criteria Distribution and Study Design Heterogeneity
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 42570051DOI: 10.1007/s40279-026-02523-3Reader discussion
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