International medical experts gather in Zurich ahead of the FIFA Congress - ANTI-DOPING
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Ahead of the 65th FIFA Congress, FIFA will hold the 3rd FIFA Medical Conference in Zurich from 27 to 28 May 2015.
The event marks the 20-year anniversary of the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC), which was established as a research arm of FIFA, with the overall objective of reducing football injuries and promoting football as a health-enhancing leisure activity. Over the past 20 years, under the leadership of chairman Professor Jiří Dvorak and head of research Dr Astrid Junge, F-MARC has presented 369 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
The Medical Conference will serve as a platform for discussing the latest scientific advances with the medical representatives and leaders of FIFA’s 209 member associations and sharing the experiences of recent research. The aim is to present the most important factors for effectively protecting players’ health, improving standards of care, and educating and training players, coaches, managers and doctors.
Key topics of discussion will include, among others, programmes to improve injury prevention, recent measures to prevent sudden cardiac arrest and FIFA’s strategy in the fight against doping. Participants will also discuss the unique potential of football as a tool for the improvement of public health with programmes such as 'FIFA 11 for Health'.
The conference will consist of two parts:
• Part I on 27 May for the medical representatives of the member associations;
• Part II on 28 May for the presidents and general secretaries of the member associations in addition to the medical representatives.
Useful scientific background information on the 20 years of F-MARC can be consulted in the recent issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
You can see the full programme for the Medical Conference on FIFA.com. The whole conference will also be streamed live here, while a recording will be made available after it has concluded.