FIFA, together with team doctors of the countries that have qualified for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, has created a robust framework of medical services that will be offered and followed during the tournament to protect players’ health and well-being.
In the recent past, incidents of players suffering from heart attacks with the most common one happening during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship where Christian Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s game against England.
Another case was that of former Manchester City forward, Sergio Aguero, who was forced to hang his boots after being diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia, a condition that involves irregularities of the heartbeat.
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One of the measures put in place for the Qatar World Cup include having a new FIFA standard for field-of-play emergency medical services, specific concussion and cardiac assessment services and the designated hospitals.
For the first time at a FIFA World Cup, an independent Concussion Assessment and Rehabilitation Service will be offered to provide an evidence-based assessment of any player who has shall suffer a brain injury and include recommendations from concussion experts regarding the player’s return to play.
Another measure that has been put in place includes a medical replay tablet for each team doctor to review injury mechanisms.
There will also be a FIFA Medical Coordinator who will be overseeing the field-of-play services at each stadium.
An injury spotter will be available in order to analyze any relevant medical incidents from the media tribune. The injury spotter will also use video replay and will alert the FIFA Medical Coordinator to any signs of a potentially serious injury.
As it has been with other FIFA-related tournaments each will be allowed to use a maximum of one concussion substitute in each match. The concussion substitution will be applied regardless of the number of substitutes already used.
The 2022 Qatar World Cup is scheduled to kick off on Monday, November 21 and end on Sunday, December 18.
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