Over the next four years, the 11 centres, including Aspetar, will be tasked with researching, developing and implementing effective preventive and treatment methods for sports-related injuries and illnesses. They will receive support from IOC and join an international network of expert scientists and clinicians in sports-injury and disease-prevention research.

Protecting athletes’ health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are Aspetar’s top priorities. The recognition of this award has demonstrated Aspetar’s clinical, educational, and research expertise are world-leading in the field of injury and illness prevention for athletes.

Commenting on the reaccreditation, the Director General of Aspetar, Mohammed Al Suwaidi, said:

We are delighted to be one of the IOC’s 11 recognised research centres. It cements the hospital’s exceptional commitment to ensure the athlete’s safety, delivered by world-class medical care and services. This collaboration brings Aspetar a step closer towards our vision of being a global leader in sports medicine and exercise science by 2020.

Established in 2009, the Athlete Screening Department (ASCR) at Aspetar currently screens sports people for medical conditions that may be detrimental to their general health and performance.

To date, over 14,000 athletes have been examined. A further strength is its close research relationship with The Aspetar Sports Injury and Illness Prevention Programme (ASPREV).

Launched in November 2012, ASPREV has managed to establish; a long-term research programme examining the possible relationship between medical musculoskeletal conditions and the prediction of future injury or illness, and a long-term surveillance programme (primarily in Qatar Stars League (QSL) and QOC Volleyball) to collect injury and analyse data.

In setting up knowledge translation mechanisms to share scientific research results, Aspetar enables the implementation of injury and illness prevention strategies within the sporting clubs, allowing each club to compare their experience against benchmark data from Qatar Stars league and elsewhere. The outcome of these research partnerships has resulted in Aspetar publishing 699 peer-reviewed manuscripts since 2014.

Aspetar has also established a comprehensive educational program based on four key pillars:

1. Continuing Medical Education / Continuing Professional Development (CME/CPD)
2. Student Education
3. Patient and Community Education
4. Centre for Evidence-Based Sports Medicine (CEBSM)

Reaccreditation is an important milestone for Aspetar and demonstrates to the international sports and medicine community the outstanding contribution Aspetar is making in supporting the health and wellbeing of the elite athlete. Thanks to close collaboration and sharing of research and best practice with other ten IOC research centres, reaccreditation dovetails perfectly with the recommendations of the Olympic Agenda 2020, which seeks to place athletes and their well-being at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

About Aspetar:

Aspetar is a world leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Since 2007, with a world expert team, the hospital has provided top-level comprehensive medical treatment to all athletes in a state-of-the-art facility that sets new standards internationally.

In 2009, Aspetar was accredited as a “FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence” by F-MARC. In 2013, Aspetar was adopted as a reference collaborator centre by the Gulf Countries Council (GCC) Health Ministers Council and “IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health” in 2014.

In 2015, Aspetar has been recognised as the “IHF Reference Centre for Athlete and Referee Health”. In the same year, the hospital also achieved the obtained on December 15 the Accreditation Canada International (ACI) “Platinum Level”.

Aspetar is a member–organisation of Aspire Zone Foundation, Qatar’s innovative sports and healthy lifestyle destination.