Headline: Real Madrid’s Medical Supervisor Advocates for Player Well-being Amid Fixture Congestion
Real Madrid’s medical supervisor, Dr. Niko Mihic, has emphasized the importance of prioritizing player welfare in response to football’s increasingly demanding schedule. He warned that professional athletes often face competition without sufficient recovery time due to fixture congestion.
In remarks to AS, Mihic highlighted the physical toll of a packed match calendar, asserting that reducing the number of games is crucial for protecting players’ health. His role involves overseeing the health and well-being of Real Madrid’s first-team players and impacting the club’s sports medicine strategies.
Sports Medicine Developments Enhancing Player Protection
Mihic explained that Real Madrid incorporates medical practices from other sports, particularly American football, where professionals gain significant experience in treating head injuries.
“That’s right. In fact, I apply everything I’ve learnt from working with sportspeople to my patients to help them all improve just a little bit,” he stated. “We take on board the Americans’ methodology and pass it on to our own players, and they apply at their own level what they see us doing in Europe,” he continued.
He also pointed out the growing significance of sleep monitoring and recovery technologies in football. “NFL doctors, for example, have far more experience with head injuries,” he noted, highlighting their attention to sleep quality in relation to concussion effects and injury recovery. “It’s essential to ensure the quality, duration and depth of sleep, and we use all the latest medical technology to achieve this,” he said.
Mihic addressed concerns about repeated heading in football, revealing that research into its potential impact is already well underway. “We are studying it, and the research is at a very advanced stage. Both UEFA and FIFA are conducting studies into what they call concussive events or sub-concussions, which occur regularly in football,” he explained.
Medical Advances Lengthening Careers of Footballers
Mihic believes that modern medical techniques are allowing elite athletes to perform at a high level for extended periods. He noted that advancements in surgery and injury treatment enable players to recover from serious injuries and continue their careers.
“It’s already happening. We see it with them, with Djokovic, Messi, Fernando Alonso and Tom Brady – all playing a decade beyond what was previously considered ‘too old’,” he said. “This is happening because players have the determination and discipline to carry on, but also because medical science supports their aim to extend their careers,” he added.
However, he raised concerns over the rising number of matches and their link to increased injury risks. Mihic pointed out the need for ongoing research into the discrepancy in ACL injury rates between men and women. “People have never played as much as they do now, and they are exposing themselves to greater risk. That’s just the way it is,” he stated.
Call for Change in Football Calendar
Mihic expressed his strongest criticism regarding the current football calendar, arguing that it hampers clubs’ abilities to ensure adequate recovery for players.
“One of the biggest problems we clubs have to face is the lack of adequate rest, due to playing continuously,” he commented. He drew a stark comparison illustrating that if footballers were racehorses, there would be outcry against the treatment they face: “I’ve said several times that if our footballers were racehorses, we’d be facing protests over animal cruelty for making them run all the time…”
He urged for an increased awareness of player health, insisting, “We must prioritise the player’s health over competition by reducing the number of matches and allowing more rest. We need to empower the footballer. Our sport is built on the player’s health, and we must put health before competition,” he concluded.
