The acute:chronic workload ratio and injury risk in semiprofessional football players.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the association and predictive capacity between the acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) and non-contact injuries in a semiprofessional football team. 17 football players from a Spanish Third Division football team participated voluntarily in this study. A prospective longitudinal study was developed during 2020/2021 season. 24 weeks were analysed from October to March, including a regenerative microcycle due to the absence of competition during Christmas. Ratio perceived exertion (RPE) and session- ratio perceived exertion (sRPE) were registered for every training and game session. After that, acute and chronic workloads were calculated, as well as ACWR was derived from them. Furthermore, non-contact injuries were registered during the mentioned period. The main findings were: there is no significant association between the ACWR and non-contact injuries (0.069 (p<0.05)) and, the use of the ACWR by itself is insufficient to predict the occurrence of non-contact injuries in a semiprofessional football team. Consequently, the ACWR is not an useful predictive tool for injuries in semiprofessional football teams.