By Rafiq Vayani
DUBAI: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheik Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, The Emirates Sports Medicine Conference (ESMC) launched today its first edition at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) in Dubai, UAE, with the participation of more than 500 speakers and visitors from the UAE and different countries around the world.
The opening ceremony of ESMC was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Saif Al Sharqi, President of the Emirates Federation, Vice President of the Asian Federation of Bodybuilding, H.E. Mohammed Fadel Al Hameli, Chairman of the UAE National Paralympics Committee, H.E. Abdulla Bin Souqat, Executive Director at Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, Ali Omar Al Balooshi, Director of the Sports Development Department at Dubai Sports Council, Dr. Mariam Al Matrooshi, President of the Dubai Police Athletes Council and a member of the conference’s organizing committee as well as staff members of sports federations, universities, and medical facilities from the UAE and around the world.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Sharqi was present at the conference’s main session. He also explored the accompanying exhibition, observing the most recent medical innovations in the field. Dr. Abdullah Al Rahoomi, President of ESRSM and the Conference, explained the most significant exhibits, the role of contemporary technology, and the use of these medical devices and cutting-edge products in recovering injured athletes and developing their physical makeup and qualification for the best performance.
Seven sessions and two workshops were held on the first day; each session featured several talks and working papers. Doctors and professors from worldwide universities and the UAE participated in those sessions, covering significant sports facets. Football medicine was the topic of the first session, elite athlete performance was the subject of the second, shoulder injuries and the development of muscles were the topic of the third, and elbow mobility and injuries were the subject of the fourth. Six sessions covering the movement, the muscles, the injuries, and the most effective ways to identify and treat injuries are also part of Sunday’s second-day’s discussions.
H.E. Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, Secretary General of the General Authority of Sports, said:” The General Authority of Sports is eager to collaborate and team up with its partners to advance all facets of sports activity in the UAE, strengthening its regional and international position in this industry in line with the vision of our wise leadership. The Authority’s involvement in ESMC as a strategic partner to support the Conference reflects its interest in sports medicine as one of the cornerstones of the growth of the sports industry. The conference will advance the field of sports medicine, encourage everyone in society to get active, and raise athletes’ knowledge of their health, in line with the UAE’s initiatives and goals to improve well-being and safety in the sports industry through injury prevention and medical research.
H.E. Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, said: “The support of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the ESMC, confirms the support and care of the sports medicine sector in the UAE, and it plays a crucial role in fostering the development of performance, sustaining players’ high levels of performance, ensuring that they continue to perform at their best for as long as possible, and ensuring that, in the event of an injury, they can quickly return to the field of play.”
He continued: “The conference makes a national product the UAE provides to this crucial sector worldwide. It is a platform that brings together elite speakers from different sports medicine and rehabilitation disciplines from the UAE and several other countries with prosperous experiences. It attracts companies specializing in sports medicine and athlete rehabilitation industries. It sheds light on sports medicine and the most effective methods applicable to athletes worldwide.”
He concluded: “We wish our national staff working in the UAE to benefit from the two-day conference sessions and meet with their specialized peers from various universities, medical centers, and international hospitals and build bilateral cooperation relations that contribute to the achievement of the conference’s goals and the desired development of the sports sector as well as the best use of human resources and allow them to give as long as possible while maintaining a high level of physical performance.”
Dr. Mariam Al Matrooshi, President of the Dubai Police Athletes Council and a member of the conference’s organising committee, said:
The Dubai Police Athletes Council will participate in the “Sports Convoy Initiative,” which intends to conduct the initial research and study on UAE sports in the future. It is the first social sports research to seriously consider sports medicine in the Middle East, the Arab world, and the UAE.
Al Matrooshi stated that the conference’s first edition would cover many crucial topics in sports medicine, such as the use of genetic testing to predict an athlete’s future, regenerative stem cell therapies, and artificial intelligence in sports medicine, as well as the significance of sports performance evaluations in raising the level of athletes.
Dr. Abdullah Al Rahoomi, President of ESRSM and the Conference, said: “Through cooperation and knowledge exchange, we can help shape the future of sports medicine and positively influence athletes’ lives and society at large.”
ESMC is organized by the Emirates Society of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine and the Dubai Police Athletes Council, supported by the Emirates Clinical Nutrition Society. The conference secretariat is INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions Org. LLC – a member of INDEX Holding.
