DILI (25 Sept 2014) – The AFC have conducted the third edition of their Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for Age Determination Workshop for the East and ASEAN region in Thailand.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) played host of the seminar-workshop with the collaboration and support of Bangkok Hospital.
Nineteen radiology specialists from 16 countries attended the seminar. The AFC Medical Officer appointed to the recent AFC U-16 Championship Thailand 2014 also attended the seminar to gain a basic insight into the matter.
Soontorn Meesuwan, FAT Treasurer and Chairman of Youth Development Committee welcomed the participants to Thailand. Dr. Niwat Boonyeun, Deputy CEO of Bangkok Hospital, expressed his thanks to the AFC for conducting the seminar at Bangkok Hospital.
Dr. James Linklater from Australia, the seminar’s chief instructor, facilitated the practical session on MRI evaluation and history as well as age determination protocol.
Medical procedures during AFC competitions were explained by Dr. Paisal Chantarapitak, Member of the AFC Medical Committee and Chairman of the Medical Committee of FAT.
Dato’ Dr. Gurcharan Singh, Chairman of the AFC Medical Committee, commented in his opening address that age determination is a new approach in sports and that it is sport specific.
“Football is the only international sport that has introduced this methodology and we have been successful in the use of MRI for age determination in a tournament which is age specific, namely the U-16 and U-17 tournaments,” he said.
“MRI for age determination protocol cannot be applied to other sports as well as female players. At the confederation level, MRI scanning is solely to determine whether a player is above or below the age of 16 based on the fusion of the growth plate of the radial bone of the wrist.”
The participants were delighted with the new knowledge which will help them to deliver the correct message about age determination using MRI and to provide their expertise in this field.
The first and second AFC MRI for Age Determination Seminars were held in Amman, Jordan and Colombo, Sri Lanka, both in 2013.
The AFC has a total of 44 trained radiologists in age determination on its panel that can be called upon by their Member Associations for professional advice with regards to age determination.
