FIFA's chief medical officer Prof. Jiri Dvorak says rushing an injured player into action before full recovery could have serious repercussions on his career and the club he is playing for.
"I urge the coaches and officials of the clubs and all the teams to allow the football player sufficient time to recover from the minor injuries as per the recommendations of the doctor," he said today.
Dvorak, who is also the chairman of FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre, is in the capital for the three-day 5th AFC Medical Conference.
"There is strong medical evidence that repeating minor injuries will lead to a major one, which can have dire consequences for the clubs and also the costs related to the treatment and loss of playing time. Summing up, rushing an injured player will incur a loss for all the stakeholders," he added.
Asked about the sudden rise in the number of deaths among young footballers in recent past due to cardiac arrest, Dvorak said, "There hasn't been any increase in the sudden cardiac arrests, only that the tragedies have been communicated more through the media. But all of them are unfortunate, we take the issue very seriously to clear the steps to prevent sudden cardiac arrest. We call them the 11 steps to prevent sudden cardiac death.
"It can be prevented by appropriate pre-competition medical assessment and proper education to medical and paramedical staff to prepare for the training and matches. They also need to have the equipment, i.E., the Automated Electrical Defibrillator (AED) and most importantly know how to use it. That concept allows us to save lives.
