SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - FIFA hopes World Cup will improve African health while South African organisers promise good medical service
Record ID:
454585
SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - FIFA hopes World Cup will improve African health while South African organisers promise good medical service
- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - FIFA hopes World Cup will improve African health while South African organisers promise good medical service
- Date: 23rd February 2010
- Summary: SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE FIFA AND SOUTH AFRICAN OFFICIALS AT TOP TABLE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR JIRI DVORAK, FIFA CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, SAYING: "We have launched or used the opportunity to launch this very successful and efficient programme the '11 plus'; eleven very simple exercises which can be performed as a regular warm-up and we know from large scientific studies that injuries can be reduced in boys and girls, unrelated to the level of skills up to 30 (per cent) and for severe injuries by 50 per cent. So, this message we passed over, we also exercise practically on the field with the participants. We have educated physios we have the strong support and collaboration by your famous football players Lucas Radebe and also by Khalusha, the chairman of the Zambia football association. So, they reinforced this intention, because if you are not going to get injured then you continue to play football and we know that physical activity is excellent, is good for you, to improve the physical activity, physical fitness, because this is the best prevention for any chronic disease and we want to use the popularity of football to improve the fitness of the population,among the school kids and also adults" MEDIA LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. VICTOR RAMATHESELE, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, SOUTH AFRICA'S WORLD CUP ORGANISING COMMITTEE, SAYING: "We also have to ensure that we can provide health services which go just beyond medical services. By this I mean port health services, ensuring that people don't bring diseases into the country during this critical time. We also have to ensure that we can manage communicable diseases, particularly seasonal flu and of course H1N1 as well. We need to an infrastructure and services in place to ensure that we can minimise the influence of these conditions. We also have to provide environmental health services including food safety control, to the players, to the VIPs, to the spectators and to everybody who will be coming onto our shores to enjoy themselves during this tournament" NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. MICHEL D'HOOGHE, CHAIRMAN, FIFA MEDICAL COMMITTEE, SAYING: "We have been looking at all the hospitals, we have been seeing all the intensive care units. We have controlled all the possibilities of transport from the stadium by ambulance to the hospitals and so on and I can tell you, you must always be careful about what you say, always something can happen but I can tell you that everything has been done locally and on the level of FIFA to assure a good medical service around that fantastic competition" JOURNALISTS LISTENING
- Embargoed: 10th March 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Health,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA9R0GBSMXP3DNPR19RALM24VIE
- Story Text: FIFA hopes the world cup in South Africa will help improve the general health of all Africans, while the local tournament organisers say all necessary medical services will be provided.
FIFA said on Monday (February 22) it hopes that the world cup in South Africa will help improve the general health of all Africans, while the local tournament organisers said medical services will be good.
At the end of a three-day medical conference in South Africa, FIFA chief medical officer Professor Jiri Dvorak told a news conference: "We have launched or used the opportunity to launch this very successful and efficient programme the '11 plus'; eleven very simple exercises which can be performed as a regular warm-up and we know from large scientific studies that injuries can be reduced in boys and girls, unrelated to the level of skills up to 30 (per cent) and for severe injuries by 50 per cent.
"So, this message we passed over, we also exercise practically on the field with the participants. We have educated physios we have the strong support and collaboration by your famous football players Lucas Radebe and also by Khalusha, the chairman of the Zambia football association. So, they reinforced this intention, because if you are not going to get injured then you continue to play football and we know that physical activity is excellent, is good for you, to improve the physical activity, physical fitness, because this is the best prevention for any chronic disease and we want to use the popularity of football to improve the fitness of the population,among the school kids and also adults."
Dr. Victor Ramathesele, Chief Medical Officer for the South African organising committee, told the same news conference that good medical services would be provided for the tournament in June and July.
"We also have to ensure that we can provide health services which go just beyond medical services. By this I mean port health services, ensuring that people don't bring diseases into the country during this critical time. We also have to ensure that we can manage communicable diseases, particularly seasonal flu and of course H1N1 as well. We need to an infrastructure and services in place to ensure that we can minimise the influence of these conditions. We also have to provide environmental health services including food safety control, to the players, to the VIPs, to the spectators and to everybody who will be coming onto our shores to enjoy themselves during this tournament," said Dr Ramathesele.
Dr. Michel D'Hooghe, chairman of FIFA's medical committee, said the global organisation and the local committee had done everything possible to ensure good services.
"We have been looking at all the hospitals, we have been seeing all the intensive care units. We have controlled all the possibilities of transport from the stadium by ambulance to the hospitals and so on and I can tell you, you must always be careful about what you say, always something can happen but I can tell you that everything has been done locally and on the level of FIFA to assure a good medical service around that fantastic competition."
FIFA also announced on Monday that it would conduct out-of-competition doping tests on prospective World Cup competitors from April.
From April 10 to June 10, FIFA will randomly conduct doping tests on the 320 players in their training camps, using both blood and urine samples.
The football governing body will also still have stringent in-competition tests during the 2010 FIFA World Cup itself. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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