FIFA Medical Conference, 17 and 18 October 2009 in Zurich

ZURICH, Switzerland - FIFA will hold a two-day Medical Conference in Zurich on 17 and 18 October 2009. Medical staff, but particularly administrators and officials from FIFA member associations worldwide, will enjoy an exceptional introduction to the latest achievements in football medicine and the many benefits for associations, communities, teams and players at all levels of play.

The topics of this conference, organised by the FIFA Medical Committee together with the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC), include the prevention of injuries and sudden cardiac death, fair play from a medical perspective, FIFA’s pioneering Football for Health initiative as well as exactly how to implement football medicine in regional and national programmes all around the globe. All this will be presented in an easily comprehensible, entertaining way under the guidance of Dr Michel D’Hooghe (Chairman of the FIFA Medical Committee and FIFA Executive Committee member) and Prof. Jiri Dvorak (FIFA Chief Medical Officer and Chairman of F-MARC) to inspire a non-medical audience.

Among the many speakers will be FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, Gerard Houiller, former South African international Lucas Radebe and Swedish international referee Martin Hansson.

For more than a decade, F-MARC has been unique in that no other research or education body has had a similar approach to sports (football) medicine. While most sports scientists and physicians focus on improvement of performance, from the very beginning F-MARC focused on protecting the health of players, injury prevention and improving standards of care. F-MARC also has a philosophy of sharing its knowledge and providing expertise to everyone for the maximum benefit of all players and athletes worldwide. The Football for Health programme goes beyond the game and those who play it and addresses the major health threats to communities worldwide.

Note to editors:

The FIFA Medical Conference at the Swissotel in Zurich-Oerlikon, Switzerland (Am Marktplatz Oerlikon, Schulstrasse 44) will be open to the media. Journalists interested in attending are kindly asked to register by sending an e-mail to media@fifa.org. The deadline is 9 October 2009. The conference will be held in English. Translations to Spanish, French and German will be available. The detailed programme can be seen at: www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/medical/01/10/40/41/programme_me dicalconference_19.09.09_media.pdf. A media briefing with Dr Michel D’Hooghe and Prof. Jiri Dvorak is scheduled for Sunday, 18 October at noon.

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser’s URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

For more information on FIFA’s medical research: www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/medical/index.html Further information from: FIFA Media Department - tel.: +41-43/222-7272, fax: +41-43/222-7373, e-mail: media@fifa.org FIFA Communications & Public Affairs Division / Zurich, 22 September 2009 Press contact : Geraldine Igou - tel.: +33157-32-85-90 - mob : +336-69-49-31-56 Geraldine.igou@consultants.publicis.fr Melanie Japaud - tel.: +331-57-32-86-36 - mob: +336-48-37-89-32 Melanie.japaud@consultants.publicis.fr Stephanie Elbaz - tel.: +331-57-32-85-92 - mob: +336-31-86-10-70 Stephanie.elbaz@consultants.publicis.fr

Source: FIFA

Further information from: FIFA Media Department - tel.: +41-43/222-7272, fax: +41-43/222-7373,
e-mail: media at fifa.org; FIFA Communications & Public Affairs Division / Zurich, 22 September 2009; Press contact : Geraldine Igou - tel.: +33157-32-85-90 - mob : +336-69-49-31-56
Geraldine.igou at consultants.publicis.fr; Melanie Japaud - tel.: +331-57-32-86-36 - mob: +336-48-37-89-32, Melanie.japaud at consultants.publicis.fr; Stephanie Elbaz - tel.: +331-57-32-85-92 - mob: +336-31-86-10-70, Stephanie.elbaz at consultants.publicis.fr