9th UEFA Medical Symposium: The women’s game and beyond
Friday, October 11, 2024
Article summary
Attendance of our ninth medical symposium, which will take place in Lugano, Switzerland, from 4 to 6 February 2025, is open to anyone interested in footballers' health and well-being.
Article top media content
Article body
Every two years, UEFA hosts a medical symposium, bringing together national team and club doctors plus experts from the wider football family to review and discuss key medical issues in football.
Scheduled for 4–6 February 2025 in the run-up to Women's EURO 2025, our ninth symposium will be co-hosted with the European Club Association (ECA) and focus on the significant evolution of football medicine in the women's game. The programme covers recent advances in this specialist field that underline the vital role of football medicine in protecting players' health and well-being.
In addition to team doctors representing all 55 UEFA member associations, participants will include doctors from European clubs participating in UEFA's elite club injury study. With dedicated sessions planned on physiotherapy, each association has also been asked to send a physiotherapist.
For the first time, we have invited anyone interested in the health and well-being of footballers to follow the symposium, either in person or online.
Our last symposium, held at the German Football Association (DFB) campus in Frankfurt in 2023, attracted 400 football medical experts from across Europe.
What is on the agenda for the symposium?
The symposium agenda will include a mix of plenary and parallel sessions with content designed to support the immediate needs of medical doctors and physiotherapists. Each session will have a strong emphasis on providing practical information that participants can apply in their day-to-day work. In addition to our speaker slots, we have also scheduled Q&A and round-table events that will encourage participants to ask questions and share their own experiences.
This preliminary agenda will be updated over the coming weeks with the names of specific speakers.
Where will the symposium take place?
The Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, Switzerland.
How can I register to attend the symposium?
You can register online to attend the symposium.
Attendance fees
Until 31 December: 600 Swiss francs (CHF)
After 31 December: CHF 750
On-site registration: CHF 900
Students are eligible for a 50% discount (CHF 300, 375 and 450 respectively) on all attendance fees by registering here.
Getting to Lugano
Participants are advised to travel to Milano Malpensa airport, from where transfers will be organised to Lugano. Further details will follow soon.
How can I learn more about the symposium?
Please contact us:
+41 848 00 27 27 / +41 22 702 87 41
Important message if you have already signed up
We encourage participants to submit poster abstracts for either (i) a scientific research project or (ii) an injury/illness/health case study. These will be displayed at the welcome drinks event on the opening day. You are requested to present the work in an appropriately unidentifiable and ethical manner.
Please submit your poster to UEFA by clicking here and bring a printed copy (A1 and portrait format) to Lugano.
Deadline for submission: 6 January 2025 (17:00 CET)
Who is organising the symposium?
UEFA organising committee
- Zoran Bahtijarević, UEFA Chief Medical Officer
- Evert Verhagen, UEFA Medical Research Advisor
- Kat Okholm Kryger, UEFA Medical Specialist
- Niki Papadimitriou, UEFA Medical Manager
- Luka Aleksić, UEFA Medical Coordinator
- Mert Kabakci, UEFA Medical & Anti-doping Coordinator
Symposium programme committee
- Tim Meyer (Germany), UEFA Medical Committee
- Elke Van den Steen (Belgium), UEFA Medical Committee
- Hakim Chalabi (France), European Club Association
- Pieter D'Hooghe (Qatar), European Club Association
- Markus Waldén (Sweden), Football Research Group
- Vincent Gouttebarge (Netherlands), FIFPRO
- Andreas Serner (Switzerland), FIFA
- Ian Rollo (United Kingdom), Gatorade Sports Science Institute
- Eva Ferrer (Spain), medical doctor
- Carolina Silveira Bolling (Brazil/Netherlands), physiotherapist
- Stacey Emmonds (United Kingdom), sports scientist
- Steffi Brouwers (Netherlands), physiotherapist
UEFA Medical Committee
- Chair: Tim Meyer (Germany)
- Deputy Chair: Charlotte Cowie (England)
- 1st Vice Chair: Helena Herrero (Spain)
- 2nd Vice Chair: John Maclean (Scotland)
- 3rd Vice Chair: Nüket Küçükel Ezberci (Türkiye)
- Petros Agathangelou (Cyprus)
- Paulo Beckert (Portugal)
- Bisser Bochev (Bulgaria)
- Magnus Forssblad (Sweden)
- Georgios Godolias (Greece)
- Edwin Goedhart (Netherlands)
- Simone Grana (San Marino)
- Juan Carlos Miralles (Andorra)
- Marko Noč (Slovenia)
- Emmanuel Orhant (France)
- Zsolt Szelid (Hungary)
- Elke Van den Steen (Belgium)
- Tomislav Vlahović (Croatia)
- ECA representative: Hakim Chalabi (Paris St-Germain)
- FIFPRO Europe: Vincent Gouttebarge (Netherlands)
Note on conflicts of interest
UEFA is proud to open the conference to medical staff from any national teams, clubs, external academics, and businesses who wish to participate. We also welcome industry and business partners.
The symposium's scientific programme is designed to be completely product/service neutral. All our organisers and speakers have signed a conflicts of interest disclosure. UEFA will share these on request.