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UAE football chief calls for stricter measures to ensure safety of players

Yousef Abdullah, the General Secretary of the UAE Football Association, has asked for stricter monitoring measures to ensure safety of the players

  • By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 15:12 November 19, 2009

Dubai: Yousef Abdullah, the General Secretary of the UAE Football Association, has asked for stricter monitoring measures to ensure players plying their trade in the UAE Football League (UFL) are in top shape physically and mentally.

His calls for a review of the current physical assessment system comes a day after Al Nasr and UAE national team striker Salem Saad passed away after collapsing during a training session with his club. Saad was rushed to the neighbouring Rashid Hospital but was pronounced dead. The reason cited was cardiac arrest, and Abdullah says with tighter monitoring procedures in place, untimely deaths like the one that befell Saad, can be averted.

“There are many examples where players have died around the world during matches and the world misses them. Safety issues were discussed at last medical conference in Zurich and how we can find the solution to preventing players from dying,” Abdullah said.

“We need more medical control and testing for the players in the future. We know this was a very unfortunate event; we have lost one of our best and most talented players. The football family is in mourning. This is a big, big loss.”

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