PARIS, April 21: Football players are far likelier to suffer injuries than other athletes, according to research published on Wednesday in a British journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood. Among young soccer players, 63.3 per cent reported an injury, defined as a musculoskeletal problem that had required them to stop playing for any length of time.

In gymnastics and tennis, the injury rate was 51.9 and 50 pe cent respectively, while in swimming, it was only 28.1 per cent.

Predictably, soccer players sustained most injuries to their legs, while for gymnasts and tennis players, the injured area was usually the back and arms respectively.

But in all four sports, most of the injuries were minor and did not cause any enduring health problems.

The research was carried out in questionnaires among 203 people.—Agencies