Injury and illness prevention practices in Qatar’s professional football clubs—implementation of the IP² NetWork

Background The Aspetar Sports Injury and Illness Prevention Programme introduced the Aspetar IP 2 NetWork, a customizable injury prevention programme for professional football clubs in Qatar during the 2020/2021 season. It includes 23 focus areas selected by stakeholders to prevent sports-related health issues. Objective To assess the real world implementation of the IP 2 NetWork preventive focus areas during the first season after introduction, focusing on team adoption and player compliance. Methods A survey was conducted among team physicians, physiotherapists and fitness coaches from the 18 professional football clubs in Qatar. The survey examined the implementation of the IP 2 NetWork focus areas and the roles of the different professionals in managing these areas. Results 17 out of 18 clubs reported using IP 2 focus areas, applying an average of 11.4 areas (range 4–21). The most commonly used strategies were the Nordic hamstring exercise, cold water immersion, taping and concussion prevention. Team physicians led 38% of the focus areas, followed by physiotherapists (25%) and fitness coaches (24%), with 11% managed collaboratively. Fitness coaches primarily handled exercise-based areas like warm-ups and load monitoring. Preventive measures were applied to the full squad in 81% of cases, with 19% targeting at-risk players. Player compliance was high, with 86% of focus areas adopted by all or most players, rising to 97% for players identified to be at greater risk of injury or illness. Conclusion Implementing the IP 2 focus areas was widespread among teams in Qatar, with strong collaboration between medical staff. Player compliance, especially among at-risk players, was excellent, demonstrating the programme’s feasibility and effectiveness in real-world settings.