Football medicine – The player’s voice

On behalf of the Isokinetic Medical Group, FIFA and the global Football Medicine family, we are excited to welcome you to the XXIX edition of the Isokinetic Conference. From the initial ideation, our hope is that this continues to be the annual gathering where we collectively explore a diverse range of Football Medicine and Performance topics and challenges, with the aim of changing some of the traditional thought-processes and practices.

This is a special year for the conference. Firstly, it is time that we came back together in person after a very challenging covid-19 pandemic period. Secondly, it is a year of football once again. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be a key focal point for our community over the coming months. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, through the 2022 Conference we will strive to deliver an innovative vision. One involving patients. This will set the conference apart from others and offers a unique perspective on the work we do in research and practice. The Patient Voice is stitched into the heart of the Scientific Programme. This conference format will not be superficial, and the aim is a clear statement of intent to introduce patients into the collective discussion. We want the real protagonist of our work (the patient) at the centre.

We believe the exchange of information led by those with in-depth sport-specific experience is of paramount importance to increase Sports Medicine and Science knowledge worldwide. This is in accordance with the mission of the Isokinetic Medical Group’s Conference, which is “to inspire the international Sports Medicine Community, through culture, image, atmosphere and organisation, to do their best to improve world health”. The Conference is, above all, an opportunity for discussion and represents an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and experiences. A spirit of interdisciplinary working, and the pursuit of integrated solutions that can serve our players, patients and organisations alike.

In this book, in addition to the abstracts of most of the invited speakers sent to us before the conference, we have inserted all the abstracts that have been accepted for free oral and poster communications. We are confident from previous experience of editions of this International Conference that this volume will further feed the debate on Sport Medicine, Rehabilitation and Traumatology, and we thank all the Authors who contributed to the realisation of this book.