A new consensus statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls for a comprehensive overhaul of injury prevention protocols for female athletes. The FAIR (Female Athlete Injury pRevention) consensus, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, is the first IOC-endorsed roadmap to focus specifically on women and girls in sport.
Researchers reviewed more than 600 studies involving over 600,000 participants to develop 56 recommendations aimed at reducing injuries among female athletes. These recommendations cover training practices, equipment standards, policy changes, and cultural shifts within sports organizations.
"For years, the sports medicine community has grappled with alarming statistics regarding ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tears and concussions in female populations, which are frequently cited as examples of sex-related injury disparities in sport," according to the study authors. They note that most existing injury prevention protocols were developed using data from male athletes and applied to women without significant adjustments.
The consensus process involved 109 contributors from various fields—including researchers, clinicians, coaches, and athletes—who participated in an eight-step framework culminating in a meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland earlier this year. The group used a modified RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method to ensure only widely supported strategies were included.
Key recommendations include mandatory neuromuscular warm-ups focusing on strength and balance at least twice per week for all sports. The document also suggests specific protective gear for different activities and advocates rule changes such as eliminating body checking in youth ice hockey and similar sports to reduce contact-related injuries. In flag football, "no-pocket" shorts are recommended to prevent finger injuries.
The report identifies low energy availability—a factor often linked with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs)—as a modifiable risk contributing to bone stress injuries among female athletes. It also highlights the importance of creating environments free from body shaming and gender-based violence as part of overall athlete safety measures.
While developing these guidelines, experts found that many recommendations still relied on combined male/female data due to limited research focused solely on women. The consensus urges stakeholders to address this gap by supporting more female-specific studies and providing equitable funding for future research efforts.
The FAIR statement concludes that protecting female athletes requires systemic change across policy-making, education initiatives, cultural attitudes toward gender equity in sport, and improved implementation pathways—not just modifications at the individual or team level.
