We compared the occurrence of coxarthrosis in 286 male former soccer players in Malmö with a mean age of 55 years with an age-matched control group. During the last decades about one fifth in both groups had been referred to hip radiography. Coxarthrosis occurred in 5.6 percent of the former soccer players and in 2.8 percent of the control group (P 0.04). Among the 71 élite soccer players the prevalence of coxarthrosis was 14 percent compared with 4.2 percent in age-matched controls and non-élite players. Elite soccer players apparently run an increased risk of developing coxarthrosis.