FIFA is in the process of creating a virtual community for football medicine whose members spotlight prevention while focussing on improving public health through football. The FIFA Medical Network is a non-restricted-access web-based service with extensive medical information not available on FIFA.com.
It is aimed at physicians, physiotherapists and other medical professionals and offers all medical and scientific publications incl. teaching material by the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre F-MARC, description of research projects, the FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence, the anti-doping programme and conferences. All material is freely available for viewing and downloading.
The FIFA Medical Committee and the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) focus on injury prevention and improving standards of care for football players worldwide with the aim of protecting players' health.
However, football, due to its enormous popularity among both genders of all ages, backgrounds, religions and cultures, is also a unique way of improving the mental and physical health not only of players but also of their communities.
FIFA therefore wants to create a virtual community for football medicine whose members not only apply best football medical practice and spotlight prevention but also focus on the bigger picture of improving public health through both playing and using football as an educational tool in prevention.
The FIFA Medical Network, which was launched at the FIFA Medical Conference on 17 October 2009 and is a non-restricted-access web-based service with extensive medical and related information not available on FIFA.com, is aimed at physicians, physiotherapists and other medical professionals. All material is freely available for viewing and downloading. The content corresponds to the F-MARC Football Medicine Manual and the FIFA Football Medicine courses and covers the whole field of football medicine.
The medical network offers news on FIFA and F-MARC activities in football medicine, platforms for specific interest groups and information on anti-doping issues in football. The need for further features in the future, e.g. a forum, will be determined by the users.
