To assess the effect on injury incidence and severity in youth male football of a newly designed exercise-based injury prevention program (five times a week) in comparison with the FIFA11+ and the FIFA11+ Kids programs (twice a week)

Playing football can increase the number and the severity of injury in young players, leading to negative effects on health and performance. The implementation of injury prevention strategies is therefore essential. This study aimed to verify if a daily-basis short exercise program was able to reduce the number and severity of injuries among youth football players, in comparison with a well-known exercise program, longer in duration and designed to be performed twice a week. Ninety-three players registered in a professional football academy and aged from 8 to 18 were recruited to participate in this research. This study has showed that both exercise programs have similar effect in reducing the number and the severity of injuries among young footballers. However, the small number of participants represent a limitation of this research, and it should have also been assessed how frequently the players performed the proposed exercise program.