Football (soccer) is a very popular sport among women and girls in Africa and the numbers continue to rise at all levels of the sport (FIFA, 2007; 2014). The world football governing body has shown its commitment to improving the women’s game by providing $ 1 billion in funding to the Women’s Football Development Department (FIFA, 2022). Similarly, national associations are also investing more in their women’s teams and more commercial sponsors such as celebrities are coming on board to sponsor women’s football (WTATennis, 2022). Further, the recently concluded WEURO and AWCON Championships broke attendance and viewership records (Kana, 2022; Wright, 2022), which shows the growing interest in women’s football as a spectator sport.

This increase in participation and professionalisation of the women’s game is also directly associated with an increase in football related injuries (Drew & Finch, 2016; Moore, Ranson, & Mathema, 2015; Pfirrmann et al., 2016). Typical football injuries/adverse events include ligament sprains, muscle strains, or concussions (Freitag, Kirkwood, & Pollock, 2015; Moore, Ranson & Mathema, 2015). However, while the tide in women’s football is turning towards a more professional approach in the Global North, the same cannot be said about progress in the Global South or at grassroots level, where resources, human or otherwise, continue to be scarce. Hence, while the physiology of football injuries may be the same, injuries and illnesses in women’s football players in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have different socioeconomic implications for management and return to play to those faced by their counterparts in high income countries (HIC). This is, in part, because trained medical care is very limited in the former (Lubega., 2020; Chapweteka, 2014; Owoeye et al., 2013; Killowe & Mkandawire, 2005) compared to the latter (Malcolm et al., 2017).

Recent studies on African sport have shown that more than 50% of athletes do not have medical attendees at training or competition (Lubega et al., 2021; Chapweteka & Rowe, 2014; Owoeye et al., 2013; Killowe and Mkandawire, 2005). These findings may be attributed to the shortage of trained sports and exercise medicine (SEM) practitioners such as medical doctors (hereinafter referred to as doctors) and/or physiotherapists (PTs) in SSA. In such an environment of scarcity, it is the women, children and those with disabilities who bear the brunt of these shortages (Cheteni et al., 2019) and SEM is no different: medical care is very limited for women’s, youth, and para football teams worldwide (Geertsema et al., 2021). It is widely believed that available and suitably trained SEM personnel would sooner practice with a (adult) men’s team where the benefits and conditions of service are more lucrative.

When women’s teams do have medical cover, it tends to be variable with no continuity of practice and care, and players may need to pay for themselves (Geertsema et al., 2021). Consequently, women players may suffer worse outcomes from injury because they are at the periphery of health services provision in football (Okholm Kryger et al., 2021), which compromises their safe participation in the sport (Tonino & Bollier, 2004; Almquist et al., 2008). SEM is a relatively new discipline in Africa, therefore the number of specialists is proportionately less than other established disciplines of medicine. (Chapweteka & Rowe, 2014; Killowe and Mkandawire, 2005). Hence, while participation in football and injuries arising thereof are increasing, there are not enough SEM specialists to attend to these football players, which results in an enormous treatment gap in sports injuries. Consequently, 70% of injured athletes do not receive medical treatment or specialist referral following injury on the field of play (Lubega et al., 2020).