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Although muscle injuries represent the most frequent injury in professional football, isolated complete distal ruptures of the rectus femoris (RF) muscle are rare, and there is no consensus on their treatment and return to play (RTP). In this article, we report a clinical case of successful non-surgical management of an RF grade 4c muscle injury in a professional football player, in which the athlete was able to RTP 21 weeks after the injury, had no re-injury >1 year after RTP, and is playing at an elite level in the Portuguese Football First League., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Fernandes et al.)

In professional football, most of the injuries are traumatic; however, these athletes may suffer from rheumatologic diseases, that may present as sports-related injuries. Reactive arthritis (ReA) is classified as a sub-group of the spondyloarthritis family and is relatively rare. In this article, we highlight the successful return to play (RTP) process after the ReA diagnosis in an elite football player in the Portuguese first league. The athlete was able to RTP four months and one week after the diagnosis, had no ReA recurrence nor re-injury >8 months after RTP, and is playing at an elite level., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Fernandes et al.)