‘Fortunately for the amputee football team, they {KRC Genk} are working in partnership with Spronken Orthopaedics,’ said Mario Claesen.

08 april 2026 Prothesen

Top clubs have an AMP (amputation football) team, enabling sporty people with an amputation or congenital defect to play football. In Belgium, these include Club Brugge Amp Team, OH Leuven Amputee Team, KRC Genk Amp Team, KV Mechelen and teams from the Antwerp and Charleroi regions, often in collaboration with Amp Football Belgium and the Red Flamingos. In the Netherlands, PSV in particular has a well-known amputee team through the PSV Foundation, alongside Only Friends Ajax in Amsterdam and training facilities at UVV Vleuten (Utrecht), where the national team also trains. These inclusive initiatives offer athletes the chance to train at a high level and compete in international tournaments.

KRC Genk launches amputee football team

Today, 8 April 2026, the Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg published an article about top athlete Mario Claesen (37), a former motocross rider from Limburg who lost his left leg in 2024 following a complication during his recovery from an accident at a motocross race. Less than two years later, Mario is back at the top! Mario is now captain of KRC Genk’s brand-new amputee football team. Spronken Orthopaedics – and the Amputation Care Team – is Mario’s regular orthopaedic prosthetist and initiated this sporting initiative together with the KRC Genk Foundation.

From motocross – via an amputation – to the football pitch

Mario’s story begins with an accident during a motocross race. What initially appeared to be a broken leg took a different turn: thrombosis meant that amputation became unavoidable. Barely two years later, he is now on the KRC Genk pitch. Not as a spectator, but as captain. Because amputee football allowed Mario to rediscover what sport means to him: movement, competition and a sense of connection with others in a similar situation.

Watch the video on Instagram

Comprehensive care and bespoke solutions are the foundation of success

Sporty people with a leg amputation need high-tech prosthetic legs because standard prostheses are not designed for the extreme demands placed on them by athletes.
Amputation football has a distinctive feature: players with a leg amputation play on crutches, without a prosthesis. This makes the sport accessible, but at the same time places enormous demands on the footballers’ arms, wrists and core. Mario describes it as intense, tougher than his years as a motocross rider.

This is precisely where Spronken Orthopaedics and the Amputation Care Centre make the difference. We developed a high-tech, dynamic leg prosthesis for Mario, so that he can continue his daily sporting activities and get back on his motorbike. In addition, we support him with personalised football crutches, braces, orthoses and bandages to make playing football as comfortable and successful as possible.

Spronken: the trusted partner of athletes

Spronken Orthopaedics is a trusted partner of Paralympic athletes who use prostheses, thanks to its Amputee Care Centre, where specialist, custom-made leg prostheses are developed using the latest techniques, such as 3D printing. As experts in technical orthopaedics, we manufacture high-quality prostheses that guarantee optimal performance, mobility and comfort at the highest level. Belgian Paralympians such as Tim Celen and Sam De Visser rely on our expertise, as do AMP teams from clubs such as KRC Genk. In this way, Spronken combines innovation with personalised comprehensive care for athletes with an amputation.

Spronken Comprehensive Care: more than just the aid

At Spronken Orthopaedics, we have believed for over 60 years that orthopaedic care goes beyond the product itself. It’s about helping people get back to living life, in their own way. Our partnership with the KRC Genk AMP Team is a fine example of this.

For Mario, the team is more than just football. It brings him into contact with fellow amputees who truly understand what he has been through. That sense of connection, off the pitch, makes all the difference.

The Spronken Team is proud to support this football team and looks forward with enthusiasm to the future of the KRC Genk AMP Team.

Read Mario Claesen’s full story in Het Belang van Limburg

• KRC Genk has achieved outstanding results in recent years, winning the league title in 2019, the Belgian Cup in 2021 and enjoying a strong European campaign in 2025/26, during which they performed impressively in the Europa League with victories over teams including FC Utrecht, Rangers and Braga.