The demands and damages of modern football

BROKEN BONES, bruises, twisted ankle or knee are some of the common injuries associated with the game of football the world over. It could be from on-field tackles and fouls or when players settle scores in their own way. But a death or a close call, seemed unthinkable on the green turf even if the most popular game in the world is also so much about physical play or muscular charge.

But football has been changing. Commercialisation has made the sport something where winning is what matters, where the stress is on not giving any quarters for exploitation at any cost. Friction thus can be expected and as the shocking moments in the 1982 World Cup in Spain revealed even dangerous consequences. Suddenly first aid at match venues is no longer all about stretcher, ice-box and pain killing sprays but hi-tech critical care unit to meet any type of emergencies. It was such an emergency that the semi final match between France and West Germany, a relentless battle for supremacy, produced and it could well have turned out a black day for world football.

That horrendous moment came with the teams locked 1-1 and with the French substitute Patrick Battiston veering away with a through pass all set to score. The German goalkeeper, Schumacher more in desperation charged into him and with a forehand blow cut him down, an incident that should even today rankles in the minds of the multitude who had watched the action. Battiston lost a couple of teeth and lay still on the turf. None immediately realised the seriousness of the injury, only wondered why Schumacher had not given the marching orders but Battiston actually was sinking. There was a slight delay in the arrival of the medical team, nonetheless doctors could save the fallen player and a huge embarassment for FIFA. The world body, it must be stressed viewed even simple injuries through onfield tackles with grave concern.

The game not surprisingly then is all about fitness in keeping with the demands of modern football, where tactics and strategies apart the intent of a team's preparation is nothing short of a war. A win is hailed but loss can evoke strange reactions. Who will forget the murder of the Colombian player Andres Escobar in his native land by a mafia gang. Though his death followed an altercation in a restaurant, observers link it to Columbia's disgraceful exit in the USA World Cup, an off the field happening which nonetheless sent a chill down the spine of every footballer. Today there are incentives for clean play, harsh punishments for dangerous play and whether a player liked it or not, more teeth for the sole judge of the game, the Referee.

Still injuries occur through blatant fouls that can result in excruciating lay off. Ask that man, who once had the world of football at his feet, the brilliant Brazilian, Ronaldo. The game beckons him but will he be the same self?

The game may flutter a thousand hearts in Latin America, even have a mesmeric effect on the fans of the other side of the world but football's development is marked by scientific temper in Europe where it is treated like an industry. A player is tuned to meet the high proficiency level required for the hard grind. Scientific training apart considerable research is being done to evaluate a player's constitution and to find ways to minimise injuries. The stress today is on raising the resilience level of players and if injured get the player back on his feet at the earliest. Such levels of high resolution player development may be alien to many other countries in the lower strata of the football world but of immediate concern in this region should be the poor medical back up at match venues. Nothing mirrors this more startlingly than the episode in the Harwood league at the Cooperage ground in Mumbai when a Nigerian player, Charles Esheku dropped dead during a league match.

Medical view is that his heart failed but details are not clear as to whether timely help could have saved him or whether the Nigerian had a history of ill-health or fitness problems. Still Esheku's death is undoubtedly a dark chapter in the history of Indian football. Only eight years ago in a match in the Santosh Trophy national championship in Kannur, a Railway player, Sanjib Dutta lost his life after an Andhra player's elbow sank into his chest during a tackle. Sanjib collapsed to the turf and before anyone could realise the seriousness of the situation and moved him to the hospital, the youngman had breathed his last. There was a question mark then on the host's preparedness for such an eventuality.

Four years later there was a near repetition in another edition of the National championship held in Jabalpur. A Services' player Leo Paul suffered a nasty fall on the hard surface (an apology of a turf) in the Ravishankar Shukla stadium and was on the verge of slipping into a coma. Nothing seemed amiss when he fell but the alarms came from the frantic call for help from other team mates. Leo had by then become unconscious. Fortunately for the organisers, the Madhya Pradesh Football Association, the Services team had shown the far sightedness to have a well equipped medical team in attendance. Leo could be given timely attention and what could have been a tragedy was averted in what was the very first match of the championship.

What incidents like the ones at Kannur, Jabalpur and now Mumbai have underscored is the crying need for full-fledged medical units at match venues. Nobody expects disasters to happen every day but no longer is it safe to take chances as Sanjib's earlier and Esheku's death now have proved. In Esheku's case of course it was strictly not a case of death through accident during play, something that should open discussion on the need for periodic evaluation of the players' health cum fitness status.

The role of a doctor in a team's performance is now well defined in sports-developed nations and in particular in the game of football. During the Goa-leg of the Sahara Cup tournament held early this year even a lowly team like Hong Kong, for instance went about its preparation in a scientific manner. Such was the importance of the doctor's word that even the food intake of players on the eve of the team's match is decided on his advice and in keeping with the demands of the humid climate. So also in helping the coach decide whether a player, carrying injury but looking seemingly fit, could be risked. Less said then about leading football nations in Europe and Latin America.

This scenario hardly matches with Indian reality. The days of ice-cubes, sprays and plain water forming the core of any first aid unit continues for most part in the various leagues in the country. Even their absence sometimes is not a point of concern.

It is not uncommon to see a badly injured player rising up just after a sip of water or after mere application of water to the injured area. To that extent Indian football can sometimes provide a perfect advertisement on the efficacies of water therapy ! Things have to change in keeping with the effort to raise the profile of the sport in India.

Perhaps the Federation Cup, to be held in Chennai from mid- August could form the perfect platform for launching a plan for hi-tech medical units at match venues in all major tourneys in the country. What makes the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium something special is that it is a stadium built as per FIFA specifications and that meants it has the facility to accommodate a mini- hospital.

With the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, which controls the Nehru Stadium, already having a sports medicine centre there, settings could be perfect for the glamour tournament.

S. R. SURYANARAYAN

Chennai

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