Football (soccer) is played by more than 300 million people globally. It is the most popular sport in the world, and participation in this dynamic sport continues to grow. Football (soccer) brings joy, health, recreation, and entertainment to billions, but as a high-impact contact sport, it is associated with significant acute and chronic joint contact forces with potential detrimental effects to the joint surface.1'2 This is where the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) have found a common goal, and this special issue presents one important result of this active collaboration. Articular cartilage injury is observed with increasing frequency in football (soccer) players and increases with the competitive level.3'4 Due to the limited spontaneous regeneration of articular cartilage, injuries often lead to significant symptoms under the continued high demands of football (soccer), ultimately resulting in the inability to play.5 Besides loss of playing time, progressive articular cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis have been found in up to 32% and present a major cause for disability and retirement from the sport.
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