The Aspetar–Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital has been officially named a Fifa Medical Centre of Excellence, it was announced yesterday. Aspetar director general Dr Mohamed GA al-Maadheed received the accreditation certificate from Fifa executive committee member, medical committee chairman and Fifa Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) president Dr Michel D’Hooghe and chief medical officer and F-MARC chairman Prof Jiri Dvorak. So far, 10 football medicine centres have received the official accreditation after an evaluation by the Medical Committee of the world football governing body. The objective is to ensure that players have access to high quality football medicine. The first such Centre was opened at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich in May 2005. The selection is based upon a comprehensive assessment regarding clinical, educational and research expertise, practical involvement in the care of teams and active commitment to preventing injuries. “Aspetar, a young institution with global goals and ambitions has a multinational staff with vast expertise,” stated Dr al-Maadheed while observing that the accreditation reflects the strong link between the vision and objectives of Aspetar and those of Fifa and F-MARC. “Aspetar’s sports medicine physicians, orthopaedic surgeons, musculoskeletal radiologists, physiotherapists, and sports scientists provide a high quality multi-disciplinary approach to the treatment of sports injuries,” he said. A Research and Education Centre provides the necessary infrastructure to ensure that relevant research is conducted at Aspetar and applied through medical and allied health practitioners. Through its National Sports Medicine Programme Aspetar has a major commitment to football medicine. Doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists and psychologists are responsible for the medical care of the Qatar National Team, Aspire Academy and all clubs within the Qatar Premier League. “The accumulated body of knowledge in football medicine needs to be practically implemented so that players can fully benefit form state-of-the-art prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,” Prof Dvorak said. Fifa Medical Centres of Excellence like Aspetar also educate and train the next generation of clinical specialists and scientists committed to football medicine, he added. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=286359&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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