Lesson

Introduction

A medical assessment is an important method to screen athletes for health risks prior to their participation in sport. The medical history, physical characteristics and pathological findings might substantially influence the risk of future injuries as well as other health risks associated with active sport participation, including sudden cardiac death.

The FIFA Medical and Research Centre (F-MARC) has developed a standardised pre-competition medical assessment for elite football players and tested its feasibility on all players participating in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. It has also been tested in both men’s and women’s youth football players at the international elite level. Compliance with the requirement for performing a PCMA was high among all teams. This standardised PCMA has since been used to screen all players participating in FIFA World Cup competitions.

The pre-competition medical assessment provides an excellent opportunity for clinicians to identify factors which might help prevent injury and to detect conditions that might make playing football unwise. In this module we will outline how to conduct this assessment.

Dr Tim Meyer

Sports and Exercise Physician

Click on the following tabs to read more about the PCMA. Review the content of the FIFA PCMA forms before continuing with this module.

Required reading

The FIFA PCMA forms

These are used to assess athletes prior to their participation in a FIFA World Cup competition. It is also a suitable assessment to complete with footballers of all ages.

Suggested reading

Development and implementation of a standardized precompetition medical assessment of international elite football players–2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.

Dvořák, J., Grimm, K., Schmied, C., Junge A.

Clin J Sport Med. 2009;19:316-21