{"resourceId":"aslani-football-injury-prediction-review-2026","versions":[{"version":"external-4a02cc18deaeecc903a1fc65d809750b7126004270b58f69bc44c22dd31dfd5a","resource":{"id":"aslani-football-injury-prediction-review-2026","title":"Soccer review finds injury-model evidence insufficient for routine deployment","organization":"Aslani, Zarei, Yaghoubitajani and Malekahmadi","sector":"Higher education athletics","geography":"International; transfer to U.S. collegiate soccer requires local validation","publishedAt":"July 20, 2026","publicationDate":"2026-07-20","eventDate":null,"sourceName":"Journal of International Medical Research / SAGE","sourceLabel":"Systematic review with risk-of-bias appraisal","sourceUrl":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03000605261469442","evidenceClass":"academic-research","outcomeClass":"cautionary","topics":["knowledge-work","data-security","governance-procurement","operating-model"],"finding":"The review questions whether discrimination results demonstrate practical injury-prevention value.","sledRelevance":"Relevant methodological scrutiny for collegiate soccer; predominantly male professional evidence is not collegiate effectiveness evidence.","evidence":"The review searched through October 2025 and included 22 studies. PROBAST rated 17 high risk, four unclear and one low risk. Heterogeneity led to narrative synthesis.","architectureImplications":"Interpretation: require validation artifacts alongside deployment code, including leakage checks, calibration and baseline comparisons.","governanceImplications":"Interpretation: document who may interpret a score and who can overrule it before testing.","securityPrivacyImplications":"Interpretation: evaluation access should be role-limited; retain only approved variables and separate identifiers.","caveats":"English-language restriction, variable injury definitions and predominantly male professional cohorts constrain transfer. The review does not establish prevention benefits.","streamIds":["college-athletics"],"roles":{"sales":"Interpretation: Position a bounded evidence audit for athletic departments comparing injury-risk products. Include sports medicine, procurement, athletics IT and athlete representatives. Ask vendors which cohort, outcome definition and decision threshold support their claims, and ask customers what error costs matter locally. The value hypothesis is a more defensible purchase decision and realistic staffing estimate. Scope the engagement to one sport and one intended decision, with an evidence register and go/no-go recommendation. Do not convert professional-soccer model scores into projected collegiate injury reductions, financial returns or a claim that one algorithm is universally superior.","engineering":"Interpretation: Require an evaluation harness that preserves player and time boundaries, supports regression baselines and produces calibration plots and threshold-specific errors. Agree outcome definitions with clinicians before extracting records. Validate the deployed version with local data under institution-approved storage and access controls; select hosting only after reviewing integration and retention needs. A proof of value should test whether staff can act on alerts within available capacity. Keep failed or uncertain predictions visible. The transfer test must match the intended collegiate population; performance from another league should not be treated as an acceptance result.","delivery":"Interpretation: Begin with a sports-medicine-led inventory of decisions, data sources and review capacity. Pair a statistician with the implementation team and train coaches on uncertainty and escalation. Use a governance checkpoint before any score reaches a participation decision. Proposed acceptance criteria include a signed outcome dictionary, reproducible independent evaluation, documented calibration, complete override logs and review of subgroup uncertainty. Thresholds and sample sufficiency should be agreed before the pilot. These are proposed controls, not study outcomes. Stop expansion if outcome ascertainment is unreliable or alert burden exceeds the locally agreed limit."},"retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T03:01:16Z","enrichedAt":"2026-09-14T03:03:04Z","enrichmentBasis":"retrieved source","accessibilityWorkforceImplications":"Interpretation: budget statistical and clinical review skills; supply understandable explanations and accessible athlete feedback.","procurementImplications":"Interpretation: make independent validation and correction procedures contractual acceptance items.","operatingModelImplications":"Interpretation: use a clinical owner and recurring model review. No direct evidence here for administrative copilots, developer agents or facilities.","sourceVerification":{"openedUrl":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03000605261469442","referenceExcerpt":"accuracy alone may be misleading in imbalanced datasets and does not establish clinical usefulness.","promptVersion":"sled-research-v3.2","model":null,"basis":"agent-reported inspection"}}}]}