The honour means that the OPSMC joins a list of 32 medical centres and clinics worldwide to have been accredited to this high standard and FIFA chief medical officer Professor Jiri Dvorak was in attendance for the official inauguration ceremony.

"I am very happy to be in Melbourne for the first accredited FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence in Australia," said Dvorak.

"This is a very well established and respected medical institution.

"The aim of the worldwide network of FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence is to improve the healthcare of football players and other athletes at every single level of the game through knowledge."

Football Federation Australia (FFA) director and former international goalkeeper Jack Reilly said the inauguration was a significant step for Australian football.

"Australia has a strong knowledge base in sports science and I welcome FIFA's recognition of the Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre," said Reilly.

"The development will help Australian football stay at the leading edge of FIFA's global network of medical expertise."

Since opening in 1987, the OPSMC has become an internationally renowned clinic that has provided medical care to all levels of sports people from the ranks of amateur athletes to Olympic champions.

OPSMC has around 70 experts associated from sports physicians, physiotherapy, clinical pilates, podiatry, soft tissue therapy, sports psychology, nutrition, exercise physiology, sports cardiology and orthopaedic surgical services.


OPSMC director Dr Andrew Jowett said he was proud to receive accreditation as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence and thanked the many practitioners who over the years have helped the OPSMC achieve this status.


"The honour of being accredited as Australia's first FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence is both recognition of the practitioners who make OPSMC a leading multidisciplinary sports medicine centre and a challenge to contribute to the wider football community in education, training, research and quality care," he said.

"We look forward to working with our partners, FFA and the University of Melbourne in achieving these goals.

"We are excited to further engage our regional neighbours in Asia and Oceania, as well as the wider FIFA network.

"Melbourne holds a proud reputation in the sporting world and OPSMC has been involved in football since our formation 25 years ago including the past two FIFA World Cup campaigns, the 2008 Homeless World Cup and the 2000 Olympic Games.

"Our three campuses in Melbourne provide a unique opportunity due to the co-existence of 4 major football codes to share knowledge, experience and improve the care of all footballers through injury prevention, specialist management and rehabilitation."

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