Dr. Zafar Iqbal is a Consultant in Sports and Exercise Medicine and has worked primarily in Football Sports Medicine for the last 21 years. His most recent role was as the Head of Sports Medicine at Arsenal FC and was part of the team that won the Premier League in 2025-26 season and runners up in the Champions league final. He previously held the same role at Crystal Palace and Liverpool FC, and served as First Team Doctor at Tottenham Hotspur. He has extensive experience across elite sport and advises international athletes. He lectures widely in Sports and Exercise Medicine and is Co-Chairman of the FA Medical Society. His work focuses on advancing medical standards in professional football.

Working in professional football since 1998, Dave has seen the Performance profession grow from its genesis to the complex support services of today. A native of Dundalk in Ireland, he  studied  Sports Science in St Marys University and Brunel University in London before taking on roles in Rugby Union & Cricket. With 1300 game’s in club football, he has worked with over 700 players and 20 Managers & Head Coaches over his career. His passion for seeking to further how performance science is used to support those involved in the game is long standing and he continues this as a Member of the UEFA Fitness Advisory Group where he is a Mentor to National Associations as well as being an external expert to the Technical Leadership Team with FIFA’s Global Football Department.   

Yvie is an HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist with extensive experience in elite sport. She spent 12 seasons at Liverpool Football Club, working with the first team for five seasons before supporting academy players aged 8–21+ for a further seven. During this time, she completed a Professional Doctorate, designing a parent education programme for academy families and a coach education programme to help create neuroinclusive environments for players. Before joining Liverpool, Yvie worked across several Olympic and Paralympic sports, including British Triathlon and Para Triathlon, where she was mentored by Professor Steve Peters, author of The Chimp Paradox. Eight months ago, Yvie joined the PFA as Director of Wellbeing, where she leads the organisation's wellbeing strategy to support current and former professional footballers.

Evert Verhagen (1976) is a Human Movement Scientist and Epidemiologist with extensive sports medicine and injury prevention expertise. He is a senior research expert in the Medical and Anti-Doping Department of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), developing and leading their research programme on player health and well-being. In addition to this role, he is a professor at the Department of Public and Occupational Health at Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands, where he co-chairs the Dutch IOC Research Centre. His work focuses on preventing sports and physical activity injuries, with particular emphasis on monitoring, cost-effectiveness, and implementation strategies. He has supervised numerous national and international PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers and has (co-)authored an extensive portfolio of peer-reviewed publications in these areas. 

Darren is currently the Director of Performance at Juventus Football Club. Prior to this appointment Darren’s roles have included General Manager - Performance at Adelaide Football Club, High Performance Manager at Melbourne Football Club, Director of High Performance at Arsenal Football Club, High Performance Manager at Port Adelaide Football Club, Head of Sports Science for Football Federation Australia and Head of Fitness and Conditioning at Liverpool Football Club. 

Darren worked as a lecturer in Exercise Science at Australian Catholic University in Sydney between 1997 and 2005 and completed his PhD in movement analysis of AFL and Soccer in 2010. Darren has had multiple papers published in peer review journals and has spoken at many international conferences. 

Kerry Peek, PhD, works for FIFA Medical as a medical researcher, where she leads brain health research. Current projects include the development, implementation and evaluation of a football-specific standardised on-pitch concussion assessment protocol, understanding the role of tactics and technique in head injury prevention, exploring the current evidence related to the short-, medium-, and long-term effects of headers on brain health, and overseeing FIFA’s injury spotter program (including the FIFA World Cup 2026). Kerry is a physiotherapist, with over 20 years of clinical experience. She is also an Associate Professor in Physiotherapy at the University of Sydney, with >AU$7.5 million in collaborative research funding, and >80 publications in the last 10 years. 

Martin has over 20 years of experience in professional sports, focusing on physical performance, rehabilitation, and research work. He is currently the High-Performance Lead at Aspetar and has held senior roles at PSG, Olympique de Lyon, Lille OSC, KitmanLabs, and Aspire Academy. He also consults for various clubs and large organizations such as City Football Group. 

He has authored more than 250 scientific papers and two best-selling books. His work bridges the gap between sports science and real-world practice, helping teams improve performance and supporting the growth of staff through tailored guidance. 

Martin also consults elite teams, mentors professionals, delivers courses in strength and metabolic conditioning and sports science, and is regularly invited to speak on topics like performance, leadership, and ego management in elite sport. 

Dr Kat Okholm Kryger is a Medical Specialist at UEFA Medical & Anti-Doping where her work focuses on football medicine research and knowledge transfer - with a special passion for the women’s side of the game. Kat is also a Visiting Professor in Women’s Football at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. 

Dr. Philip Batty is a Consultant Sport and Exercise Physician with over 30 years of experience. He graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1987 and has worked in various high-profile roles, including Deputy Club Doctor for Manchester United, Head of Sports Medicine at Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City, and Senior Team Doctor for England Rugby. Dr. Batty is currently the Team Doctor for Middlesex County Cricket Club and London Spirit, and Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine for the English National Ballet and the Championships, Wimbledon. His specialties include musculoskeletal injuries, ultrasound, exercise as therapy, and adolescent rehabilitation. He has previously served as Training Programme Director in the North West of England and is a Past President of the Independent Doctors Federation. 

Margie Davenport is Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta, where she holds the Christenson Professorship in Active Healthy Living. She is also the founding Director of the Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health (established 2013; www.exerciseandpregnancy.ca). With more than 200 published manuscripts, Dr. Davenport's research focuses on exercise and sport participation before, during and following pregnancy. She regularly collaborates with major global governing bodies including FIFA, the WTA, the WHO, and the IOC to shape practices and policies across preconception, pregnancy, and the postpartum period, including the upcoming 2027 IOC Consensus Statement.

Dr Alex Culvin is the Director of Women's Football at FIFPRO. Alex is a former professional footballer who played in both England and Europe. She is Senior Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett University. Alex's PhD was the first to analyse the labour conditions of professional women footballers in England. 

Founder of 292 Performance, Ben and the team works with athletes and organisations operating under sustained pressure, designing performance systems that deliver measurable impact across elite sport and beyond. 

Ben has a PhD in Biomechanics, has coached athletes to medal at every Olympics since 2008 and has led performance and rehabilitation teams across multiple elite sports for over 20 years. Ben led the physical performance of the England men's football team and pathway for seven years prior to establishing 292 Performance. 

Paul Saluan, MD is a nationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon and clinical innovator with more than 25 years of experience advancing the field of sports medicine. Board-certified in both Sports Medicine Surgery and Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Saluan combines elite surgical expertise with a deep commitment to research and education at Cleveland Clinic. 

Dr. Saluan serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives and Clinical Development for the Global Peak Performance Center, where he is building an integrated worldwide ecosystem of partners - spanning professional athletes to youth competitors - focused on optimizing performance through data-driven innovation. He also leads Sports Medicine Outreach and Education for Cleveland Clinic, driving program strategy, cultivating key partnerships, and strengthening community engagement across the region. 

At the forefront of surgical and technological innovation, Dr. Saluan directs both the Orthopaedic BioRobotics Lab and the Orthopaedic Skills Lab, where he pioneers next-generation approaches to sports medicine care. He holds an academic appointment as Assistant Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, mentoring the next generation of physician-scientists 

Thomas Mroz, MD is Chair of Enterprise Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic, overseeing clinical operations, research, quality, and strategy across Ohio, Florida, and London. A cervical spine surgeon and Director of Spine Research, he serves as Physician Lead for the Cleveland Clinic and IBM Discovery Accelerator, where he has pioneered artificial intelligence tools for surgical patient selection and medication optimization. He is the founder of Cleveland Clinic's Global Peak Performance Center, which couples large scale biological and biometric data with advanced computing to identify the drivers of human performance. Dr. Mroz has authored more than 500 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and abstracts, serves as Deputy Editor of the Global Spine Journal, and is the President of the Cervical Spine Research Society. 

PFA Australia

Rita Mankowska is a former Australian A-Leagues defender and an experienced leader in athlete wellbeing and career development. Since transitioning from professional football in 2012, she has spent more than a decade supporting elite athletes at Melbourne Victory Football Club and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), while continuing to build her expertise through specialist education in player care, career development and elite athlete wellbeing. 

CLEVELAND CLINIC

Gary Calabrese, PT, DPT, is Senior Director of Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy at Cleveland Clinic and a recognized leader in sports rehabilitation and return-to-play. Over his career, he has worked extensively with professional athletes and Cleveland’s major professional sports teams, including more than two decades with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His clinical and research interests include injury prevention, rehabilitation, functional return to sport and the management of hip, knee and overhead-athlete injuries. He regularly presents nationally and internationally on sports rehabilitation and has helped expand Cleveland Clinic’s rehabilitation and sports therapy programs across the health system.

CLEVELAND CLINIC

Marie Paraiso, MD, is Vice Chair of Career Development and Mentorship in Cleveland Clinic’s Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute and an internationally recognized expert in urogynecology and pelvic floor health. Her clinical and research work focuses on pelvic floor disorders, incontinence and advanced minimally invasive treatments that improve women’s function and quality of life. A longtime investigator and educator, Dr. Paraiso has helped advance innovations in women’s health through clinical research, surgical innovation and multidisciplinary care, bringing an important women-specific perspective to conversations around athlete health, performance and longevity.

ILO

Dr Manal Azzi currently heads the global team on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Policy at the International Labour Organization (ILO) based in Geneva, Switzerland. 

She has most recently coordinated the ILO’s Global Report on Psychosocial risks at work launched at the end of April 2026, and before that the AI and Digitalization and OSH publication and campaign. Prior to that, she coordinated the ILO’s publications on climate change and heat stress and OSH. She has led some of the ILO’s flagship reports and campaigns in the context of the world day for safety and health at work. She was also leading the technical work towards the tripartite expert meeting that led to the adoption of the first ever global policy guidance conclusions on extreme weather events and changing weather patterns in April 2026. With over 20 years in the organisation, Dr Azzi played an instrumental role in the process leading to the recognition of occupational safety and health as a fundamental principle and right at work in and continues to lead the global chemical hazards portfolio across multilateral platforms. 

Dr Azzi holds a PhD in Health Sciences and Policy (Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences-University of Surrey, UK), a masters in labour law, LLM (University of Leicester), a masters in nutrition, and BSc. in environmental and public health sciences (American University of Beirut), and a degree in biochemistry, human physiology and health education (University of Sydney). 

FC CINNCINATI

Dr. Garrison Draper serves as Vice President of Sport Performance & Health at FC Cincinnati, where he leads the club's integrated performance and athlete health strategy across sports medicine, performance, sports science, recovery, nutrition, and player wellness. 

Over the past decade, Dr. Draper has helped shape the evolution of high performance within professional football and the MLS. Beginning his career as a sport scientist and progressing into executive leadership, he has played a key role in developing multidisciplinary performance environments during a transformative period of growth across Major League Soccer. 

His professional journey has included leadership roles with FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF, and the Philadelphia Union, providing experience across diverse organizational structures, player acquisition models, and competitive environments. Throughout his career, he has championed integrated systems that connect coaching, sports medicine, sport science, strength and conditioning, nutrition, recovery, and analytics through a unified framework with the athlete at the center of decision making. 

Alongside his work in professional football, Dr. Draper has remained deeply engaged in academia and applied research. He completed his doctoral studies at Teesside University in the United Kingdom, where he continues to serve as a Visiting Fellow, and earned his Master's degree from Edith Cowan University in Australia. These experiences have helped shape his global perspective on athlete performance, health, and organizational excellence. 

His work has spanned athlete monitoring, injury prevention, return-to-play, performance diagnostics, recovery systems, fixture congestion management, training-load optimization, and integrated data platforms. More recently, he has focused on building club-wide infrastructures that align first-team, reserve-team, and academy environments under a shared high-performance philosophy. 

Beyond his club responsibilities, Garrison actively contributes to league and industry initiatives focused on player welfare, competition demands, and performance innovation. He serves as Vice President, and was a founding board member, of the Professional Soccer Performance Association (PSPA), supporting the advancement of performance practitioners across North America. 

Dr. Draper's interests include environmental challenges, travel demands, recovery optimization, organizational design, and the integration of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence within elite sport. He is passionate about fostering collaboration across clubs, leagues, researchers, and player representatives to advance the future of athlete health and performance.  

UEFA

Dr. Elke Van den Steen is currently serving as a specialist in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine at St. John’s Hospital in Bruges, Belgium. She pursued a postgraduate course in Sports Medicine and completed a fellowship in Sports Medicine at Aspetar Sports Hospital in Qatar. 

From the outset of her career, she has been actively engaged with both female and male football players at the elite club level. Since 2005, Dr. Van den Steen has been fulfilling the role of a physician for the Royal Belgian Football Association, catering to WU 17, U19, and Beach Soccer. Furthermore, since 2009, she has been associated as a physician with the National Belgian Women's Football Team. 

Dr. Van den Steen became a member of the medical committee of UEFA in 2019, focusing on medical issues specific to female football players. As of 2023, she holds the position of chair of the Women’s Health Expert Panel.  

PREMIER LEAGUE

Dr Matt Green is Head of Elite Performance at the Premier League, where responsibilities span Player Health, Performance Support, Pathway Management and Football Development Systems. Since joining the Premier League in 2018, Matt has driven strategic work across a range of player health and performance priorities, including brain health, player workload, mental health and wellbeing, and innovation and insights. 

Before joining the Premier League, Matt spent 10 seasons at West Bromwich Albion FC, where he served as First Team Fitness Coach and led the club’s sport science programme. Matt holds a Professional Doctorate in Applied Sport and Exercise Science, is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES), and is CASES High-Performance Sport Accredited. 

CONMEBOL

Dr. Osvaldo Pangrazio (PAR) – Specialist in Traumatology, Orthopedics, and Surgery, with a subspecialty focus on hip and knee surgery; President of the CONMEBOL Medical Commission & Director of the CONMEBOL Anti-Doping Unit; and member of the FIFA Medical Committee. 

FIFPRO

Michael works across Global Policy and Strategy at FIFPRO, the global football players’ union. He’s currently Manager of Strategy & Industry Intelligence for Men’s Football, while also spearheading the development of Player IQ, FIFPRO’s data-driven knowledge centre. 

He previously enjoyed a 10-year career in professional football, playing for a number of clubs in Ireland’s Premier Division and the UEFA Europa League. Following the conclusion of his playing career and prior to joining FIFPRO in 2020, Michael worked in legal roles in Europe and Australia within the sports governance and financial services sectors. 

FIFPRO Africa

Kgosana Masaseng is the General Secretary of FIFPRO Africa. He leads the coordination and development of player unions across the continent, with a mandate focused on representation, governance and player welfare. His portfolio includes negotiating collective bargaining agreements, establishing dispute-resolution mechanisms, and introducing standard player contracts to advance decent work, stronger governance, and commercial growth in African football. He also serves on the four-member FIFPRO Africa and African Leagues steering committee responsible for implementing the continental social dialogue agreement. 

Prior to FIFPRO, Kgosana served as General Secretary of the Footballers Union of Botswana from 2014 to 2023. 

He has more than 20 years of experience in football media and commercial development, including producing televised Botswana Premier League matches and working as a technical producer at the 2013 AFCON finals. 

From 2003 to 2011, he was a prominent football analyst on local radio and television before transitioning to television production for live matches and weekly sports programmes. 

Since March 2020, he has served as National Course Director for the Botswana National Olympic Committee. 

PFA 

Penri is the Director of Legal at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). 

He leads the PFA’s legal function and, as part of its executive team, advises the organisation, its leadership, boards and members on a wide range of legal, regulatory and strategic matters. He also represents the PFA in its engagement with key stakeholders across domestic and international football. 

Before joining the PFA, Penri spent almost four years at leading sports law firm Centrefield advising the full range of football stakeholders on a range of football-related matters including complex and high-profile domestic and international transfers. His experience includes proceedings before the FIFA Football Tribunal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

Earlier in his career, Penri spent six months on secondment with City Football Group working across football, commercial and regulatory matters including transfer agreements, sponsorship matters and player image rights.   

He also sits as a PFA-appointed member of the Professional Football Compensation Committee and lectures as part of the PFA Business School. 

FIFPRO

A former professional player with over 90 appearances for Scotland, Frankie Brown understands the unique needs of footballers. Frankie has a PhD in exercise immunology and extensive exercise physiology research expertise. As Head of Research and Strategy for Women's Football at FIFPRO, Frankie leads the effort to expand research and accelerate progress, driving forward initiatives that improve the women’s game and empower players globally. 

Manchester United FC

Head of Physical Performance at Manchester United FC, leading the club’s physical performance strategy and delivery across the first team. Hold a PhD in Sports Science focussed on analysis methods, performance and injury in elite soccer. Member of FIFPRO’s High Performance Advisory Network. 

FIFPRO

Joaquim Evangelista it’s the Portuguese Players Union President and FIFPRO Board Member. At national level he’s also a member of the National Council of Sports, in representation of professional athletes. 

His academy background includes a Law degree and Postgraduation in Professional Sports Law, by the University of Coimbra. 

Leeds Beckett University

Dr. Stacey Emmonds is an Associate Professor in Sports Performance at Leeds Beckett University, Senior Lead for Performance Education at the English FA, and a member of the UEFA Fitness Advisory Board. She brings extensive experience at the intersection of elite football practice, performance education, and applied research. 

With a career spanning both academia and high-performance football, her work is focused on bridging the gap between research and practice, translating scientific evidence into meaningful strategies that enhance player performance, development, and health. 

FIFA

Manolo Zubiría is a global sports executive with more than 20 years of experience leading football operations, major international sporting events, commercial initiatives, and complex organizations.   

His career has been built at the intersection of sport, business, media, and innovation. He has held senior leadership positions with FIFA, CONCACAF and AS Roma, and has worked across some of the world’s most significant sporting properties, including the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Copa América, CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Olympic Games.   

Zubiría currently serves in a senior leadership role with FIFA’s 2026 World Cup organization in the United States, having led the planning and delivery of the most successful World Cup in FIFA history. His experience managing global stakeholders, broadcasters, venues, host cities, commercial partners and football organizations has given him a unique understanding of how to turn a major sporting property into a world-class business and entertainment platform.   

Previously, as Chief Football Officer of CONCACAF, Zubiría was responsible for a broad portfolio spanning competitions, football operations, development, refereeing, women’s football and major events. Zubiria also worked in senior football management with AS Roma as Chief Global Sporting Officer, giving him experience inside one of the world’s most prominent professional football clubs. 

LALIGA

 Javier Tebas Medrano’s involvement in football began in 1993, when he was named President of Sociedad Deportiva Huesca. In 2001, Mr Tebas was elected Vice President of LALIGA, after which, in 2003, he headed a group representing 30 LALIGA clubs that worked on joint negotiation of audio-visual rights. He was appointed President of LALIGA in April 2013. Upon taking up the LALIGA presidency, Mr Tebas’ main objective was to reduce clubs’ debts and restore financial health. This first major objective was achieved in the span of just a few years. A second major milestone was achieving the ability to jointly sell audio-visual rights and more fairly distribute income across all clubs. 

The 2016/2017 season was the first time LALIGA sold the rights as a collective, something that was determined by Royal decree. LALIGA also worked on substantially improving the quality of its broadcast product, utilising cutting-edge technology to deliver the world’s best-televised football competition. Today LALIGA is focused on international growth, strengthening its brand around the world, getting closer to fans everywhere and attracting new fans to the beauty of Spanish football. LALIGA is doing all this at a time of rapid change in the broadcasting environment. The league has partnered with innovative new providers such as DAZN, Disney+, Eleven Sports and YouTube, among others, to reach its fans. 

Other key aspects of LALIGA´s work driven by Mr Tebas are the fight against piracy, the fight against violence in football, and supporting the growth of women´s football. At the same time, LALIGA is focused on sharing the lessons it has learned to help football grow everywhere. Mr Tebas holds a degree in Law from the University of Zaragoza. 

PFA

Fern Whelan is a former professional footballer who now works as Women’s Football Player Services & EDI Executive for the Professional Footballer’s Association. Fern enjoyed a career playing for England and playing in the WSL for Everton, Notts County and Brighton & Hove Albion. She also has a masters in Sports & Injury Rehabilitation along with being a qualified physiotherapist. Fern works in the media with various media outlets providing punditry and presenting. Fern has a passion for elevating the female professional game in England ensuring that every player feels valued and supported on their journey.