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. 

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. 

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.

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.