Meeting in Zurich on 24 September 2004 and chaired by FIFA Executive Committee member Dr Michel D'Hooghe (Belgium), the Sports Medical Committee congratulated the FIFA Medical and Assessment Research Centre (F-MARC) on reaching its tenth anniversary. F-MARC was set up shortly after the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ with the primary objectives of reducing the overall number of injuries, decreasing the number of "minor" injuries whose recurrence may have a degenerative effect in the long-term, introducing preventative measures and promoting football's positive impact on health and well-being.

Headed from the outset by FIFA Chief Medical Officer Prof. Jiri Dvorak (Switzerland), F-MARC recently published a unique reference work summarising its extensive research, entitled the "Football Medicine Manual".

Among the centre's numerous triumphs have been its highly successful efforts to prevent injury. Studies suggest that effective preventative measures can reduce the overall number of injuries by more than a third.

Prevention of injuries and the reduction of injury-related costs lie at the very heart of F-MARC's latest campaign, "The 11", which has been launched jointly by FIFA, the Swiss national accident insurance fund Suva and the Swiss football association (cf. media release no. 97 dated 22 September 2004).

In a further F-MARC initiative, prompted by Sports Medical Committee member Dr Zerguini (Algeria), two professional football clubs in Algeria have agreed to undergo biological, clinical and psychological tests before, during and after the month of Ramadan this year. This study, which constitutes a world first in this area, will form the foundations for scientific analysis of the potential impact of Ramadan on player performance.

Rounding off F-MARC's current activities, the findings of recent research indicate the reliability of using magnetic resonance imaging to determine age by scanning players' wrists. This method has already been used in a pilot study during the FIFA U-17 World Championship 2003.  Details of the latest results will be presented to the FIFA Executive Committee in the coming months.

The members of the committee also heard a report on the Olympic Football Tournaments Athens 2004, noting that only six players had used Beta 2 agonists for therapeutic purposes (asthma) during the event. This constituted only 1% of all the players taking part and compared favourably with the figure of 5% for all the athletes competing in the 2004 Olympics - additional proof of the excellent health of footballers! The Sports Medical Committee welcomed the proposal made the previous day by the Football Committee and the Technical and Development Committee to make the Men's Olympic Football Tournament a U-20 event.

Finally, the 152 doping tests carried out so far during the preliminary competition of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in a total of 38 matches have resulted in two positive cases, one for cocaine metabolites, the other for cannabis metabolites. Both of the guilty players were suspended for 12 months and fined.

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FIFA COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION / Zurich,  27 September 2004 / 2004-0102-SportsMedicalCommittee-E