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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s commitment to ensure the optimum level of medical care for Asian players was further emphasised today after the AFC Medical Committee approved the recognition of two new healthcare providers as part of the prestigious AFC Medical Centre of Excellence network at its second meeting held virtually.
The Japan Football Association Clinic and the Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center – Vinmec Times City International Hospital in Vietnam were inducted into the world-class pool, expanding the total number of distinguished centres to 12 across the Continent.
Launched in 2018, the AFC Medical Centre of Excellence is a recognition given to clinics and hospitals which deliver optimal healthcare to Asian footballers and demonstrate leadership in clinical research, education expertise, injury prevention and management measures as well as means to improve sports medicine research.
AFC Medical Committee Chairperson Dato’ Dr Gurcharan Singh, who led the meeting, said: “The healthcare and wellbeing of players represents a critical component in enabling the AFC to realise its Vision of ensuring the success of its teams on the world stage.
“Through the expansion of the AFC Medical Centres of Excellence, we will not only be able to enhance the scope of services, accessibility, and level of care to players, but ultimately ensure more opportunities for greater clinical collaboration and multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange across the Continent.
“On behalf of the AFC, I would like to congratulate our newly-designated AFC Medical Centre of Excellence partners and we look forward to their continued dedication towards providing world-class scientific research and services for the benefit of Asian players and teams,” added Dato’ Dr Gurcharan.
As part of the Confederation’s continued efforts to combat doping and uphold the highest standards of integrity, the designation of the AFC Registered Testing Pool (RTP) for competitions in 2025 was also approved, along with medical updates to the AFC Competition Operations Manual.
Members of the Committee also discussed the study of the prevalence of disorders of sex development (DSD) among female footballers in Asia, a proposal from Transform Sports Genomics on Sports Genomics in Women’s Football as well as the use and implementation of a digital medical record software to strengthen operational efficiency.
The Committee was also updated on all the sports science and medicine events and activities which have been organised since the last meeting and were especially pleased to acknowledge the progress of the 8th AFC Medical Conference, scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 21 to 25, 2025, with the Logo and Key Visual of the highly acclaimed marquee AFC event presented to the members.
