{
  "abstract": "Objective To explore sports injury prevention and management strategies, barriers and facilitators, within an elite sport context in Senegal, by giving voice to the stakeholders (including coaches, health professionals, athletes) that are working or competing in the country. The study was conducted as Senegal prepares to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2026.Methods Between February and May 2025, we conducted a qualitative study, with 16 semistructured interviews of athletes (n=5), coaches (n=7) and health professionals (n=4) locally involved in sport at the national level. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and then analysed following the three coding phases of grounded theory: open coding, axial coding and selective coding, before being analysed using ATLAS.ti software.Results According to these Senegalese elite sports stakeholders, injury prevention is mostly informal and individually led by coaches, often lacking alignment with international standards. Intervention remained reactive rather than proactive and injury management was limited by financial, logistical and cultural constraints. Coaches emerged as central and versatile stakeholders, frequently taking on medical, educational and emotional roles in the absence of structured multidisciplinary systems. Gender-determined practices and mental health stigma further complicated care, especially for women athletes.Conclusion This study highlights the essential role of coaches in injury prevention and management within sports structures of Senegal, even at the elite level. Our findings underscore the need to strengthen support structures with appropriate tools, education and resources. Developing context-specific and culturally relevant strategies is crucial to improve athlete health and promote injury prevention practices in resource-limited settings.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Sports Traumatology, Sports2, CHU de Liège, Liège, Belgium",
        "Luxembourg Institute of Research in Orthopedics Sports Medicine and Science (LIROMS), Luxembourg, Luxembourg",
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Camille Tooth"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Lolita Fischer"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "French Institute of Sports (INSEP), Paris, France"
      ],
      "name": "Anne-Claire Macquet"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Institut National du Sport du Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Suzanne Leclerc"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Physiotherapy and Physical Medicine, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon"
      ],
      "name": "Maurice Douryang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Orthopaedics and Trauma, Baptist Hospital Mutengene, Mutengene, Cameroon"
      ],
      "name": "Ghislain Aminake"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Physical Activity and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Liege, Liège, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "François Delvaux"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Sports Traumatology, Sports2, CHU de Liège, Liège, Belgium",
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Physical Activity and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Liege, Liège, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Jean-François Kaux"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Luxembourg Institute of Research in Orthopedics Sports Medicine and Science (LIROMS), Luxembourg, Luxembourg",
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg"
      ],
      "name": "Romain Seil"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Didier Hannouche"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "French Institute of Sports (INSEP), Paris, France"
      ],
      "name": "Sébastien Le Garrec"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Senegalese Volleyball Federation and Confederation of African Volleyball, Dakar, Senegal"
      ],
      "name": "Charles Bassene"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal"
      ],
      "name": "Ndiak Thiaw"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, Lyon 1, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Biologie de la Motricité, Saint-Étienne, France",
        "Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine Unity, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Faculty of medicine, Saint-Étienne, France"
      ],
      "name": "Pascal Edouard"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "ReFORM IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liège, Belgium",
        "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Philippe Tscholl"
    }
  ],
  "title": "‘I coach them, I treat them, I listen to them’: the multifaceted role of the coach – a qualitative study on stakeholders’ perspectives on injury prevention and management in Senegal (Africa)",
  "uid": "60d5c84f-73e8-5c55-9b33-7efdc15eae6a"
}