Medical community
Monday, March 18, 2024
Article summary
UEFA's network of medical and performance professionals unites the global football community and plays a vital role in our efforts to ensure player safety.
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Article body
We are proud to count on a Europe-wide community of talented medical teams dedicated to ensuring the well-being of footballers at all levels of the game – starting with the UEFA Medical Committee. Composed of 18 elite football doctors with expertise in different fields of medicine – orthopaedics, cardiology and sports medicine – most members have either past or present experience as national team doctors.
Our events and activities help to ensure that everyone in European football can benefit from the added value of this community’s knowledge and experience.
UEFA Medical Symposium
Every two years, we host a Medical Symposium, which brings together experts from clubs, associations and the wider football family to review and discuss key medical issues in football. Topics include injury prevention, women's and youth football, and current and future developments in sports medicine. The next symposium will be co-hosted with the European Club Association and take place on 4 to 6 February 2025 in Lugano, Switzerland.
UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme
The UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme (FDEP) aims to level the playing field for doctors across all 55 of our member associations, where there are varying states of research and medical development. In a typical event, one doctor per association is invited, and participants are asked to organise events in their own countries to spread lessons learned across European football. The programme is funded by our HatTrick programme which reinvests EURO revenue back into the game through national association development projects.
The first workshop covers various topics related to trauma and emergency treatment of players on the pitch, the second reviews the diagnosis and treatment of football-specific injuries, and the third covers various topics related to player protection, including nutrition, psychology and rehabilitation.
Webinars, podcasts
We run monthly webinars exploring the latest research and insights on football-related medical topics. You can see all our events on the UEFA Medical YouTube channel or listen to our UEFA Medical podcast series.