AIFF Medical Committee discuss protocols for standardized medical guideline

The All India Football Federation Medical Committee meeting, chaired by Kiran Kumar Kulkarni, was held over video conferencing on Saturday and it discussed protocols for standardized medical guideline based on FIFA and AFC.

AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran, was present in the meeting, along with committee members Arya Roy, Anirban Malik, Dr Balvinder Singh, Col (Dr) Sandipan Das Sarma, Sachin Yadav, Sidharth J Unnithan, Intesarul Haque and Shikha Dhaundiyal.

In the opening address, Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran said, "On behalf of the AIFF President Mr Kalyan Chaubey and the Executive Committee, I would like to congratulate each one present in the meeting for the work that has been done for all these months for the development of football. I also congratulate each one of you for your valuable expertise and contributions to the medical aspects of football in India.

"We are in the process of integrating every aspect of medical science, considering the modern development in Sports Science, to bring those best practices into India, so that everyone can benefit from it. We are blessed with tremendous inspiration, energy motivation, and the vision to transform football in India."

Chairperson Kiran Kumar Kulkarni said, " I would like to thank our President, our Secretary General and all the members of the Executive Committee for supporting us in every possible way. The Medical Committee, with all its members, has been doing a commendable job for eight months since its inception in November, and would like to contribute to the growth of the game in every manner."

The Chairman pointed out that currently there are six Indian doctors in the AFC Medical Committee.

The Medical Committee recommended that an Age Verification sub-committee should be formed with qualified radiologists as its members. In this area, a zero-tolerance policy should be adopted, the Committee felt. Apart from this, the Committee recommended having seven other sub-committees which include Anti-doping, Screening, Medical Education, Women's football medical practices, Muscular and joint, Sports physiotherapy, and Sports radiology committee.

The Committee discussed the protocols that need to be followed as a standardized medical guideline based on FIFA and AFC which can help in the overall growth of the football medical system in India.

The Medical Committee recommended holding a seminar on sports medicine in collaboration with the AFC after a suggestion was made by the Secretary-General.

Collaborations with different institutes on physiotherapy courses were also discussed in the meeting. The Medical Committee explored methods to improve data collection and research efforts within the Indian Football ecosystem before concluding.