Dr. Peechalerm Pisanusan of Thailand, Dr. Yosif Husain of Kuwait, Joanna Ammar of Lebanon and Chhador Zangmo of Bhutan were the latest participants to join the one-week programme aimed at enhancing their knowledge and expertise in sports medicine.

The world-renowned Aspetar hosted the three-day course where more than 50 team physiotherapists from 31 Member Associations attended the bi-annual course which was launched in 2016.

This is the first time participants of the AFC President's Travelling Fellow for Football Medicine experienced how medical and anti-doping methods were put in place during the AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020.

NSIM will now be part of seven established medical centres under the AFC Medical Centre of Excellence which was launched in 2018 to provide better healthcare for footballers in Asia while looking at ways to improve sports medicine research.

Held on the sidelines of the 6th AFC Medical Conference in the Chinese city of Chengdu, the AFC Football Medicine Awards are designed to acknowledge and recognise the contribution of medical professionals to the development of football and, at the same time, serve as an inspiration to others to continue their involvement in the game at all levels.

Among the winners was medical luminary Professor Haruhito Aoki from Japan who was honoured with the AFC Football Medicine Merit Award and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Dr. Zohreh Haratian who received the AFC Young Medical Officer Award.

With Professor Aoki unable to attend Dr. Tsuguo Morikawa received the award on his behalf.

In addition, some 25 other professionals received AFC Distinguished Gold, Silver and Bronze Service Awards for outstanding service to their respective professions.

Building on the success of the 1st AFC Sports Physiotherapy Course which took place in 2016, the three-day course brought professionals and practitioners from around the world to Qatar for a unique and informative event.

The biennial course is designed to help physiotherapists manage the challenges and complexities of the ever-changing modern game of football.

This year’s event examined the role of physiotherapists and their contribution to supporting footballers’ recovery and rehabilitation, enabling them to achieve optimal performances.

Across a variety of workshop sessions, presentations and practical exercises, the course provided participants with the opportunity to examine best practices in physiotherapy and to develop their knowledge and understanding through practical workshops, evidence-based examples and extensive clinical research.

Course sessions focused particularly on team sports and covered topics such as the growing role of physiotherapists in football, clinical reasoning principles adopted by physiotherapists, groin injury prevention methods, Pre-Competition Medical Assessment (PCMA) screening, the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) portable devices to treat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), hamstring injuries, knee and ankle injuries, acute musculoskeletal trauma, concussions and other medical emergencies such as asthma attacks, epilepsy and heart related illnesses.

Experts also discussed anti-doping among athletes, the ethical boundaries in athletes’ use of supplements to help with recovery, and psychological factors that affect the progress of athletes’ recovery following injury.

The course was held in preparation for next year’s 6th AFC Medical Conference that will take place from March 4-9, 2019 in Chengdu, China – an event that Aspetar experts will also participate in.

The AFC Medical Conference held every four years is considered one of the world’s leading medical and scientific conferences, attracting hundreds of participants from different sports federations and sports medicine institutions from around the world every year.

The workshop covered various areas of sports medicine such as the FIFA 11+ injury prevention programme, age determination, gender verification, return-to-play decisions, use and abuse of biological therapies, on-field management of concussion, sudden cardiac arrest and more.

AFC Medical Committee Chairman Dato' Dr. Gurcharan Singh (Malaysia) and AFC Medical Committee Member Dr. Zohreh Haratian (Islamic Republic of Iran) delivered the workshop which encompassed both theoretical and practical sessions.

"In requirement of the recently introduced Club Licensing Regulations in Tajikistan, every National League Participating Club needs to appoint a doctor or a physiotherapist. All the clubs have made the necessary appointments," Tajikistan Football Federation’s League Director Alisher Urunov said.

"However, most of the club doctors lack the necessary knowledge and expertise of sports medicine. So, the Tajikistan Football Federation had requested AFC to conduct this Sports Medicine Workshop under the League Development Programme.

"The workshop was beneficial for the club doctors to get the latest knowledge on sports medicine from the experts in the field. The topics covered were very useful for the club doctors and would help them in providing the best possible medical support to the players."