Athletic Pubalgia

Athletic pubalgia, also called the sportman's hernia or sports hernia, Gilmore's groin or groin disruption, is a medical condition of the groin affecting athletes. Jerry Gilmore recognized the syndrome in 1980 and developed a surgical repair technique.

It is a syndrome characterized by chronic groin pain in athletes and a dilated superficial ring of the inguinal canal. Soccer and ice hockey players are affected most frequently, and both recreational and professional athletes may be affected. A hernia cannot be found on physical examination or medical imaging, and is not revealed during surgery. The term hernia thus is a misnomer, but has persisted, as surgical reconstructions similar to those performed for inguinal hernias are often effective for "sports hernias" as well.
This condition has been linked with Kaká of Real Madrid and to a lesser extent to Fernando Torres of Liverpool FC , both of whom had an on/off season in 2009/2010 .

It is also believed that AC Milan knew about this condition when they sold Kaká to Real Madrid last summer for close to €70m . Some experts think that this is the reason that Real Madrid could be left with a €70m turkey come the end of the summer .

'It was a tough season for me,' Kaká said. 'But there is a lot of time until the World Cup for me to get ready. We have examples of players who were not physically fit going into the World Cup but eventually played well, so it's not a concern.' The 28-year-old Kaka was sidelined for 45 days at one point and played sparingly with Real Madrid when he returned to action.

The playmaker is expected to be one of Brazil's main leaders in this year's World Cup, along with Robinho and veteran defenders Juan and Lucio.