FIFA Sports Medicine

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Introduction

International Football & Sports Medicine Conference in Los Angeles

From 22 - 24 March 2002, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine together with F-MARC and US Soccer will organise in Los Angeles an International Football & Sports Medicine Conference.

The Conference will be held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California and deal with topics such as prevention of soccer injuries, injury care and rehabilitation and performance.

For further information please consult the website or register for this event.

The importance of careful medical attention to athletes in all sports is beyond question, and football represents no exception.

Ouch! A blow on the knee needs urgent attention. Photo FIFA Archive

Indeed, the nature of our sport puts it among those in which thorough medical preparation and treatment is most necessary, as the game becomes faster and invariably harder and increasing demands are put upon the human body.

Illustration of ankle taping in the main directions of movement (yellow, blue, red).

FIFA's Sports Medical Committee has risen to this modern challenge and conducted research into such questions as the effects of high altitude on footballers or the growing incidence of injuries to external cruciate knee ligaments. At the same time, improvements have been made to on-field treatment of injured players and to the special needs of the growing band of women footballers.

Much of this research is centred in the project known as F-MARC, the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre, which was initiated by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter after the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

An F-MARC working group, headed by Dr Jiri Dvorak MD, has been attached to the FIFA Sports Medical Committee and put in charge of setting up such a centre in Zurich to deal with various medical problems in football, as well as drawing up educational materials to improve educational standards and also the medical, mental and psychosocial care of players in all age-groups including the problem of doping.