Dubai: The chief medical officer of Dubai-based Fifa Medical Centre of Excellence (MCE) has lauded the improving attention being given to player-care facilities by clubs and countries within Asia.
Dr Mourad Al Ghrairi, the chief medical officer at Fifa’s MCE that is based at the Al Shabab Club premises in Al Mamzar, was invited by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) by the continent’s governing body for football to be part of its ‘Train the Trainers’ course held in Kuala Lumpur from March 2-5.
The four-day course that was conducted by the AFC Medical Committee attracted a total of 63 key medical officials from various Asian member associations. Participants went through a series of sessions on theoretical and practical topics relevant to the duties and responsibilities of AFC Medical Officers at competitions. The course, established in 2008, is aimed at increasing the pool of AFC Medical Officers while updating them with the latest modern scientific knowledge and research.
“We delved on various aspects of the game, including muscle injuries, on how to prevent these and how to treat the same. We also dealt with bone injuries and trauma, while also trying to see what progress medical officers at clubs and associations had made to be updated on latest methods in the field,” Dr Al Ghrairi said.
Meanwhile, the seminar was preceded by a hands-on experience for two sports medical officers, who were in Dubai to study the functioning of the Fifa MCE. The two — Yung Kai Yee Kate from Hong Kong and Li Wen Tu — were nominated by the AFC medical committee under the ‘AFC President Follows’ programme.
During their one-week stay in Dubai, the two officers witnessed the rehabilitation of players and also visited all departments of the centre and got a feel on the functioning of the Cardiology, Sports Performance, Physio, Gate analysis, Biomechanics analysis areas.
At the end of the programme, both medical officers were awarded with certificates from the hands of Sami Al Qamzi, Chairman of Fifa Medical Centre of Excellence.
