23/12/2020 12:00 AM

Aspetar has once again proven its global leadership in sports medicine field in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite of the challenges, Aspetar has marched towards excellence in the world of sports medicine through its distinct and eminent medical projects as well as international recognitions making it the leading sports medicine hospital in the world.

 

In May this year, Aspetar issued a set of guidelines for returning to sports, which has been  considered a glimmer of hope for many professional athletes and sports enthusiasts after all sports activities in the world were suspended for more than two months. Aspetar Protocol contributed to resume sports activity in the country, where the release included updated guidelines and pathways for a safe return to sports training and competition in the light of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In collaboration with its partners at MoPH, Aspetar has contributed to the safe return of sports activities and the protocol has been applied since last June in most sports activities in the country, whether local or international. These the sports guidelines are considered a reference for healthcare practitioners in clubs and various sports disciplines in Qatar.

Recently, the protocol was applied in many sports competitions in Qatar, mainly in the Amir Cup at Al-Rayyan stadium, one of the 2022 World Cup Stadiums, and the Asian Champions League competitions, held in Qatar.

Aspetar has launched a unique and interactive online platform for athletes related to COVID-19 pandemic. It is considered the first in the world to target athletes and workers in various medical and sports sectors, by providing important information based on evidence and scientific research from reliable scientific sources.

As part of its efforts to protect athletes’ wellbeing, Aspetar introduced a new assessment for athletes who contracted Covid-19 to return to play after cardiology clearance.

Aspetar recently organised a recognition ceremony for 40 Aspetar employees (Nursing and Laboratory Staff) who were on secondment to HMC in support of fight against COVID-19.

 

In recognition of its pioneering role in providing outstanding health services, and for contributing to the health education of athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks, Aspetar has posted detailed videos for exercising from home, to maintain fitness and protect their immune system during their stay at home.

This initiative witnessed the participation of Qatari sports stars where they contributed to the service of sport and society in light of the outbreak of the pandemic and to overcome its consequences positively by urging everyone to remain active and productive using preventive measures and to stay at home during that period.

Several Qatari and international sports stars have joined the Aspetar Community Initiative, providing remote fitness exercises to athletes as well as the public, aiming to positively influence fitness maintenance during their stay at home.

Nasser Bin Saleh Al Attiyah, Qatari superstar, is the latest to join Aspetar’s initiative. The world rally champion provided a series of exercises along with Aspetar experts. Qatari athletes, Mariam Farid and Ahmed Tijan player of Qatari beach volleyball team are also participating in this initiative.

The list of participants alsoinclude  other Qatari sports stars such as professional Qatari boxer, Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid bin Jassim Al Thani, who practices in a light weight medium under the umbrella of the Association of Professional Boxers in Spain, Ahmed Morgan, player of the Qatari national team of beach handball and motorcycle racer. Other are Saeed Al Sulaiti and Al-Rayyan football player Sebastian Soria, Rima Taha Qatar national athletics team member in addition to many other stars.

 

Aspetar is one of the few hospitals accredited by both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA. This year marked successful re-accreditation of Aspetar as FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence (FMEC) for another four years.

Aspetar has joined the AFC network of reference medical centres as a distinguished medical centre in the AFC medical network launched in 2018 to provide the best health care for footballers in Asia through the recognition of the outstanding medical centers in Asia. This demonstrate Aspetar’s leadership in clinical research and educational expertise as well as injury prevention measures as well as the best sports medicine destination. 

Moreover, Aspetar provided medical support for the AFC Champions League, held on two separate tournaments for the East and West regions. As a reference centre, Aspetar provided doctors to five participating clubs, as they were unable to bring their doctors to Doha for different reasons, which confirmed the excellence of the Qatari hospital continentally.

On other hand, the organising committee of the Diamond League -Doha 2020 praised Aspetar for the medical services provided to the elite athletes participating during this year's meeting, held on Friday 25 September, after it was postponed last May due to COVID-19.

In recognition of its outstanding efforts to contribute to the return of football activity affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, Aspetar received the Qatar Football Association (QFA) ‘Football for All’ Award for the 2019-20 season in appreciation of its efforts in the resumption of football activity during the pandemic.

“The systematic review and meta-analysis” scientific study published by Aspetar surgery department won the prestigious Systematic Review award 2019-2020 from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

In preparation for the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022, Aspetar in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health launched the National Clinical Guidelines (NCG) for dental injuries in professional sports to help in developing the oral health services to be provided for all athletes.

The guidelines developed by Aspetar, led by Dr Mohammed Al Saey Director of Aspetar Sports Dentistry and a Consultant in Oral Surgery highlight the most important principles of Sports Dentistry, dental athlete screening, along with diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental injuries.

Aspetar is committed to providing world-class concussion care to football players and contributing to the legacy of the Qatar 2022 Football World Cup. 

Aspetar has established the Sports Concussion Programme, the first of its kind in the Gulf region for sports related concussion. It is based on international best practice and customised for local conditions.

 

In recent years, world football stars continue to flock to Aspetar as an ideal destination for treatment and best sports medicine services with the highest standards, as the center gaining the trust of athletes and sports stars in various world leagues.

Borussia Dortmund star and The Norwegian team member, Eirling Haaland, has completed his treatment plan at Aspetar, the world’s leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital in Qatar, and will be soon declared fit to play.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions have imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other restrictions for travellers, even though many athletes have shown their keenness to be treated at Aspetar. 

Athletes who participated in Qatar’s international competitions have benefited from the services that Aspetar offers, such as athletics stars and Asian footballers participating in the Asian Champions League.

The list of Football players who have chosen Aspetar for treatment includes World Cup champions with France national team, Samuel Ummiti, Kélian Mbappe and recently, Ousmane Dembele in addition to many PSG players such as the Brazilian star Neymar da Silva.

"Aspetar is incredible and the infrastructure is perfect to work and recover, everything is optimised for the athletes at its best," said Kylian Mbappe, the French league's top scorer of the season.

Mbappe is not the just the one who has recognised that Aspetar is the best in the world. Many Premier League players Including: Tottenham Hotspurs promising English player Harry Winks and his team-mate, The Welsh player Ben Davies were the latest who are being treated at Aspetar, in addition to a large number of Liverpool players such as Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Naby Keita.

A number of AFC Bournemouth players had been treated in Aspetar last season, to mention a few Adam Smith, Lloyd Kelly, David Brooks, Lewis Cook and the team's talented player, Netherland international Arnaut Danjuma, based on the successful treatment experience of many of their stars such as striker Callum Wilson (Newcastle), and Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa).

German football stars such as Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Paris Saint-Germain players Kehrer and Draxler had undergone a treatment and rehabilitation programme in Aspetar last year.

 

The Qatari Hospital is also the first destination for Arab football stars, where dozens of players regularly travel to receive treatment and medical advice from Aspetar experts. Moroccan league champions, Raja Casablanca’s Ben Halib and Douik benefited greatly from Aspetar, and the President of the Moroccan club thanked Aspetar and its experts as a contributor to the crowning of his team.

Jordanian football has benefited from Aspetar, as many Jordanian players prefer Aspetar to detect injury and conduct in-depth examinations, namely: Munther Abu Amara. Iraqi national team players, Kuwait player Fahd al-Anizi who underwent surgery in Aspetar, Dhofar club and Oman national team player Munther al-Alawi, Sudan national team player Murikh  are also on the list.

Mauritanian national team player Mohamed Kamara is being treated at Aspetar since the beginning of the year after suffering a major injury while playing in the Tunisian league.

 

Aspetar has strong ties with many partners worldwide, including leading sports organisations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A few days ago, the FIFA Medical Director visited the hospital as one of the centres accredited by FIFA as well as to inspect Aspetar’s readiness for the World Cup Qatar 2022.

Aspetar is also one of the IOC's most prominent partners in organising the 5th World Conference on The Prevention of Injuries and Diseases in Sport, which was postponed until the end of next year due to the COVID 19 Outbreak.

Locally, Aspetar has strengthened its role as an effective partner of the Qatar Football Association and the Qatar Stars League and has expanded its network of teaching and scientific research collaborators, joining HBKU to Qatar University, the North Atlantic, Weill Cornell and other educational institutions that share knowledge and experience.

In sports field, Aspetar's partnership with the Algerian Football Federation has continued for the 11th year successively, the outstanding partnership comes against the backdrop of the remarkable brilliance of the Algerian national team “Desert warriors”, the champion of Africa, in addition to scientific partnerships with prestigious European clubs such as FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham FC.

 

Aspetar continuously enriches the scientific scene, publishing more than 100 scientific peer reviewed articles and researches annually authored by experts from different disciplines, and these experts contribute to the stages of planning, implementation and dissemination. Aspetar is keen through these studies to integrate the latest research and clinical practices derived from the experiences of the teams working in sports fields and within the hospital. Aspetar research tops the agenda of many local, regional and international conferences and scientific events.

While Aspetar has been one of the world's leading football research institutions in recent years, five Aspetar experts are among the top 10 global researchers in the field by 2020.

One of the most notable research presented by Aspetar is a study on "the characteristics and types of injury in athletics for five-year academy students" in collaboration with aspire academy in addition to another four-year research involving 551 players between the ages of 9 and 19, about injury and its consequences among football academy players.

In collaboration with The Qatar Star League Foundation, Aspetar conducted a unique research study, published a few days ago and is under review, entitled "The resumption of football competitions during the COVID 19 pandemic in a country with a high injury rate", which included about 1,337 players and members of the technical and administrative staff for nine weeks.  

Aspetar has also developed a treatment protocol for groin pain, to be added to the Aspetar hamstring protocol, which was issued three years ago and a consensus research paper on the effects of heat on athletes in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

 

This year, Aspetar has excelled as the region's leading role in medical education by offering an evidence-based medical information by organising a series of virtual forums discussing the book "Aspetar Sports Medicine collection", starting from this month until the Qatar World Cup in November 2022. 

Next year, Aspetar will be organising a series of monthly online forums every third Wednesday that will be open to healthcare professionals and an opportunity to interact and learn about the most important research and various topics related to sports medicine, which has made Aspetar a successful model in the field of sports medicine.

Aspetar experts regularly participate in various international conferences to contribute to their expertise to the world. Aspetar has also inked several agreements with local and international universities to train doctors and students. Through its unique surgery training centre in the Middle East, Aspetar conducts a series of courses and workshops on a regular basis.

It is worth mentioning that since its opening, Aspetar has been conducting scientific education for its employees every week on every Tuesday through a discussion of the latest scientific developments. This tradition, aims to keep pace with scientific developments and share knowledge among specialists.

When we talk about Aspetar as a sports medicine leader that holds the trust of the sports community, we start from a reality that we witness every moment we live in this institution, in terms of the competencies working in this institution. It is one of the best available in the international medical arena, both in terms of scientific qualification and in terms of field experience, the confidence that this hospital has gained at the international level.

Just as Aspetar has invested in the human aspect and the expertise of high qualified staff, Aspetar also been interested in the use of state-of-the-art technology and latest therapeutic techniques.

Aspetar became the first hospital in the Middle East to use Nanoscope micro-endoscopy technology. The successful surgery, performed in July this year, was supervised by one of the best-qualified surgeons, with the aim of ensuring the quality of health care provided to athletes.

The Qatari surgeon, Dr. Khalid Al-Khelaifi, Orthopaedic surgeon at Aspetar, performed the surgery using Nanoscope, for patients with knee ligament and cartilage injuries, using local anaesthesia without the need for total anaesthesia.

This year, Aspetar also began using a latest technique known as "cooled Radiofrequency" to treat severe and chronic joints pain, the knee, shoulder or spine joint, a technique supervised by Dr. Yasin Al-Maqadma, a consultant of interventional pain management, which has proven to be effective.

In 2020, Aspetar introduced the latest surgical technique to treat hand injuries and ligament pain at the wrist called ‘TFCC’. Using an endoscope, this safe and effective surgery aims to reduce the waiting time between diagnosis and treatment of so-called triple fibrous cartilage. This can treat complex injuries at the wrist level, which are common to handball athletes, volleyball, golfers, football goalkeepers and cases such as wrist arthroscopy, reconstruction of the joints of the triangular fibrous cartilage complex and repair of the ligament. It helps stabilise the wrist fracture with the laparoscopic.

 

Aspetar is part of Qatar's success as the capital of sports and one of Qatar’s landmarks. After Qatar's bid for the 2022 World Cup, Aspetar is known as a landmark destination for medical tourism in Qatar and is one of the pillars of in Qatar's bid for the 2027 Asian Cup after succeeding as an official medical partner for the Asian cup tournament hosted by Qatar in 2011.

The sports medicine hospital is also one of the components of Qatar's candidacy file for Asian Games 2030, which Doha will host. Aspetar is part of a full and integrated portfolio that also includes Aspire Zone.

 

As a leading centre in sports medicine, Aspetar confirms its readiness for the Qatar World Cup 2022; Aspetar is an integral part of Qatar's organisation of the historic World Cup in the Middle East. In addition to being in sports city and its location next to Khalifa Stadium, one of the World Cup stadiums, Aspetar works hard in cooperation with its partners in the Legacy and Projects Committee and many health institutions within one integrated system.

For more than a decade, Aspetar has collaborated with the 2022 world cup organising committee to establish mini-Aspetar clinics within the World Cup stadiums that will host the event. Aspetar has offered medical support for world sport community through scientific research published by Aspetar experts about different topics such as, adapting to the atmosphere, and treatment and prevention programmes from injuries.

By the end of 2020, Aspetar has vast experience in managing major sporting events by providing medical support to 100 sports events per year, including major sporting events hosted by Qatar, most recently the World Athletics Championships IAAF 2019 and the AFC Champions League 2020.

Through Aspetar's accumulated experience during its participation in world events over the past decade, Aspetar's experts have a unique experience in providing the premium healthcare in major sporting mass gatherings, and this will certainly help contribute to the success of the tournament in collaboration with its partners.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup is a great opportunity for Aspetar to showcase its expertise and excellence through its experts who have already participated in the last three world cup tournaments held in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.

Aspetar officials are confident in providing world-class medical services, certified by FIFA officials.  Aspetar also has conducted comprehensive examinations of all referees participating in the World Cups in recent years, including the World Cup in Russia 2018 and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, and expected to continue with the referees participating in the Qatar 2022 World Cup tournament.

 

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”. 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 2017, Aspetar was awarded World Health Organization’s Patient Safety Friendly Hospital-Level 3 designation.

In 2018, Aspetar – Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital was officially awarded Diamond Level accreditation status by Accreditation Canada. This is the highest level of accreditation award possible under the program and awarded to highly committed and quality-oriented organizations that monitor outcomes, use evidence and best practice to improve services.  Aspetar is now the first hospital in the State of Qatar to be awarded this coveted Diamond Level Status. Aspetar is a member–organisation of Aspire Zone Foundation, Qatar’s innovative sports and healthy lifestyle destination.