A large delegation from the Bangkok FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence visited the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Thursday 9 June 2016. The group of Thai medical experts, headed by AFC medical committee member Dr Paisal Chantarapitak, was welcomed by FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer Prof. Jiri Dvorak and met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The visit provided an opportunity for the group of physicians from the Bangkok Hospital Medical Centre and the College of Sports Science and Technology at Mahidol University to exchange with their counterparts of the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich, which is also part of the network of FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence.

The Bangkok medical center has been working regularly with FIFA since the 2003 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand and the collaboration developed further after the tsunami that struck the region in 2004, with the centre finally joining the network of FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence in 2012.

Since then, the collaboration with the Thai medical experts, as well as the Thailand FA, has facilitated the implementation of FIFA’s injury-prevention programme ‘FIFA 11+’, as well as the recent introduction of FIFA’s public health initiative ‘FIFA 11 for Health’ in Thailand with the support of the Thai government.