Are elite athletes exploited in terms of the health risks they are expected to accept? What are the health risks of elite sport? Are appropriate steps taken to safeguard athletes' health? This essay draws on a study of English professional football which found that players are expected to ‘play hurt’. Injured players may be subject to pressures to return to play before they have fully recovered. Information about their injuries may be deliberately withheld from players. Many clubs fail to meet the requirements of health and safety legislation. However, it is argued that the concept of exploitation is not helpful in understanding the situation of professional footballers and that the situation of professional footballers and other elite sportspeople is better understood in terms of the concept of ‘risk transfer’.