CAF talks sports medicine in Accra

Ghana is the venue for next year's African Cup of Nations and lots of activities would precede Friday's draw for the 16 nations that have qualified for the 26th edition of the competition.

As Accra gets busy for the pairings, a sports medicine conference gets underway on Tuesday to address issues related to the medical aspect of the sport.

The conference which is a build-up the previous one held in Cairo, Egypt in 2005 is tagged “Nutrition in Africa, myths and beliefs”.

Over 65 participants, including team physicians from the qualified countries to the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 will attend.

'The objective of the conference is to find answers to issues related to nutritional habits and beliefs of many African players,” Prof. Hosny Abdelrahman, Vice- president of CAF medical committee said.

According to Prof. Hosny, five highly qualified speakers from Europe and Africa, including CAF medical committee members will deliver papers.

Among the topics that will features in the conference are contemporary research in football, nutrition and football, sudden cardiac death, practical sessions on basic life support and infectious diseases.

A separate section will deal on specialized topics related to doping and nutrition.

This include CAF strategy in the fight against doping; developing a personal plan for players; nutrition in Africa, myths and beliefs; dietary supplements and doping risks; and nutritional supplementation in adolescent soccer players.