Harry Kane, the captain of the England men’s national football team, has expressed his support for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) data in soccer to prevent injuries. Kane voiced his concern over the number of top players missing this year’s women’s World Cup due to injuries, including former captain Leah Williamson and the 2021-22 women’s player of the year, Beth Mead.
Having triumphed in the women’s European Championship last year on home turf, England now heads into the upcoming tournament in Australia and New Zealand in July with a depleted squad. The absence of key players also affects other strong contenders like Olympic champions Canada and defending champions the United States.
Kane emphasized the unfortunate nature of these injuries, stating, “It’s been a real shame to see some of the women players go down with those injuries and big injuries as well.” As a solution, the Tottenham Hotspur striker announced his investment in OxeFit, a fitness-tech startup driven by AI technology. He firmly believes that leveraging real-time data can effectively prevent unnecessary injuries.
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“Injury prevention is something that is the most important thing to me,” stated Kane, who joins retired ice hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky as one of the latest investors in OxeFit. He expressed his confidence that AI will continually enhance injury prevention measures, saying, “It (will) only get more impressive and more with AI will get better. And hopefully in the long run we’ll start kind of seeing less and less injuries.”
Kane highlighted the capabilities of OxeFit’s technology, which can identify instances where an athlete may be favoring one side over the other and provide immediate feedback. “You’ve got a little issue on your left side or your right side and you need to even out because when you’re playing game after game, all you’re doing is just putting more impact on maybe the weaker side,” he explained.
By endorsing AI-driven solutions like OxeFit, Kane envisions a future where injuries in soccer are significantly reduced, ultimately benefiting the players and the sport as a whole.
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