Cardiff University-based academic Liba Sheeran is one of the main speakers at a forthcoming open debate that will tackle a crucial aspect of footballing injuries. The debate is one of series that peppers the recently released programme for 2026 international Football Medicine conference, which this year focuses on ‘return to performance’.

The conference takes place at the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre, and runs from 18-20 April.

As well as being one of a several prominent sports physiotherapists who are key members of the event’s official faculty, Dr Sheeran is one of the many specialists who have been invited to speak. She will kick off the debate in question by addressing the topic of ‘Spine injuries and back pain in football: intersecting but distinct challenges across the player lifespan’. The session takes place on the second day of the event.

Delegates will then listen to a debate conducted by two speakers: Madrid-based consultant musculoskeletal radiologist Ara Kassarjian and Fabrizio Tencone, who is the director of the Isokinetic Centre in Turin.

It will be chaired by Mark Fulcher, the managing director and a sport and exercise physician at Axis Sports Medicine Specialists who is based in Aukland, New Zealand. Dr Sheeran is reader and director of Impact and Innovation at Cardiff University’s School of Healthcare Sciences and Population Health. She is also research theme lead at the university’s College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. 

Spreading ‘joy and passion’

The conference is hosted by the Isokinetic Medical Group and FIFA’s Medical Centre of Excellence. There will be 500 scientific contributions and delegates will hail from 85 countries.

The programme states that the event will attract about 3,000 delegates, who will have opportunities to learn about the latest developments in sports science and cutting-edge technology. The event will also ‘break down industry barriers, spark lively debates, inspire conversations, encourage different perspectives [and] fuel collaborations’.  

The ultimate reward for delegates is they get a chance to ‘be part of spreading the joy and the passion of football medicine’.  

‘Return to performance’

The programme suggests that members of the medical community often neglect the importance of one of the last – but perhaps the most important – aspects of football medicine: performance.

‘Return to performance is the ultimate goal of every patient after injury and the line between rehabilitation and performance is getting finer and finer‘, the notes suggest.

‘The football medicine community is already pushing the boundaries of functional outcomes, often including football-specific metrics.

‘However, results remain challenging, with only 50 per cent of players getting back to full football performance after ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] injury.

‘Integrating physical and sports-specific domains, we should clearly define our ultimate goal, while optimising our approach and progressively becoming “performance doctors”.

The notes add: ‘At #Isok26 in Athens, from cutting edge research to top level practice, we will merge our approaches and look for the best solutions for achieving a full Return To Performance.’

Tackling hamstring injuries

Phil Glasgow, a physiotherapist by background, will be one of the debaters at an event titled ‘Hamstring injuries: artificial vs human intelligence’ that takes place on the opening day of the conference. His fellow debaters are Brazil-based physical therapist Natalia Bittencourt, who holds a PhD in rehabilitation science, and Nicol van Dyk a physiotherapist and performance health researcher based at University College Dublin.

The session will be chaired by Bryan English, who has served as head of medical with several leading football clubs in England and was also part of Team GB for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games in Sydney and Athens.

As well attending a series of open debates, delegates can also go to traditional sessions and those devoted to ‘next generation leaders’. Dr Glasgow is one of five speakers lined up to speak at a session on the second day of the conference, which is titled ‘Full performance for hamstring injuries’. He will focus on ‘Building robustness: the key for performance’. Another speaker in the line-up is Dr van Dyk, whose topic is ‘Squaring the circle: how hamstring injuries prevention influence performance.’

The deadline for delegates wishing to obtain a discounted early bird fee is 18 February. Discounts on early bird and standard registration fees are available to students. For more information, click

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