A gulf in class
When I had the operation on the troublesome achilles back in March, I had every hope and belief I would be fit for Ireland’s end of season friendlies and the vitally important qualifier against the Faroes but, unfortunately, my recovery has taken longer than anticipated. Even though I’ve known deep down that I wasn’t going to be ready, I still felt a sense of disappointment at seeing the squad when it was announced on Monday.
In a bid to get my injury sorted out once and for all, I’ve been at a place called Aspetar and I cannot praise it highly enough. It was recommended by a few people whose opinion I value greatly. Aspetar is the medical centre in the middle of the Aspire Zone — basically a vast complex catering for countless sports.
On my first day at Aspetar, there was an Irishman — me — being attended to by an Australian physiotherapist, a South African chief medical Officer, a Dutch sports medicine physician, a Belgian surgeon who specialises in ankles/feet, a French radiologist and a Lebanese woman who works as the athletes liaison officer. All examined me in the space of a few hours to build up a picture and history of my injury.
Straight off, I was blown away by how welcome each of them made me feel. Then, as I talked them through the history of the injury, they hung on every word, making notes and asking me questions. The way they conversed with each other and with me, about the injury and the plan going forward, gave me huge confidence that I was in the best possible hands.
When I describe these people I was seeing as a “physiotherapist” or a “physician”, I don’t think I’m doing them justice. Aspetar head-hunted some of the finest people from around the world. The CVs these guys possess are phenomenal and, on top of all that, they are genuinely lovely people.
The facilities are the best I have ever seen and further improvements are constantly being planned.
To give you an idea what’s on offer — there are two hydro pools which can be lowered to make them ten feet deep and the current adjusted to make the session as hard or easy as required. Anti-gravity treadmills using NASA technology control your body weight. I started off at using just 50% of my body weight and by the end of my three-week stay, I was up to 90%. This enables you to get running in a very controlled manner while putting less strain on the injury.
Elsewhere they have altitude rooms where you can sleep overnight. So, in theory, you train at ground level and sleep at altitudes of up to 12,000 feet, improving fitness over two to four weeks.
There are Olympic-sized swimming pools, seven Fifa-approved football pitches, an indoor Fifa-approved football pitch that is air conditioned and can seat 5,500 fans, and the world’s largest indoor dome which can accommodate 13 different sports simultaneously. On top of this, they are building four air-conditioned outdoor football pitches so teams can train and play games in the hottest months of the year.
They have a football academy here that nurtures young talent from the age of eight, with the ultimate aim to produce professional players to represent their national team. Not content with this, they have also set up an academy in Senegal where they scout some of the best talent from around Africa. In the last few years, they bought a second-tier team in Belgium called KAS Eupen, who were struggling financially. Owning this team gives the best talent from the academies in Qatar and Senegal the platform to play at a much more competitive standard.
While here, I met the person who has made all this possible, even though he is a very humble individual who doesn’t really like the acclaim. Riadh Milani, a Tunisian doctor, came across a very wealthy man called Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani who was having trouble with a knee injury and underwent surgery in America. Riadh sourced the best people to fix the knee and from this first success the two men set off on this amazing journey to get the best facilities, with the best people, all under the one roof. They should both be very proud of what they have achieved.
I can now see why Qatar has been granted the honour of hosting the World Cup in 2022. Like so many other football people, I was a bit shocked to hear Qatar had got the vote. I didn’t particularly agree with the decision and had definite reservations – but that was before I got to experience this fascinating place first-hand. In hindsight, I have to hold my hands up and admit I was very naive and not a little ignorant.
Obviously the heat and humidity is a big concern, but when you learn out here about the football pitches that already have air conditioning – with the players who play on them suffering no ill effects — it leaves you feeling pretty confident that in nine years’ time they will have it well and truly sorted out.
Of course, there would still be concern for all the fans who will invade the country in their thousands and most of whom won’t ever before have experienced summer heat like this. But the organisers have thought of this too, and word is that, amongst other measures, they plan to build shaded walkways between venues and hotels. On the subject of weather, by the way, there was a running joke amongst the physios the first week I was here, about the Irish man who managed to bring a few days’ rain to a place that rarely if ever sees it, especially in May.
Qatar is the wealthiest country in the world, purely down to its oil and natural gas reserves. A small place, it has a population of less than two million and of that only 300,000 are Qatari citizens.
With a reported 500 people arriving daily to Qatar on a one-way ticket, you can see why this country is prospering. The long-term aim seems to be to build the country up to attract the type of tourism that will give it sustainability long after the gas or oil reserves run dry but, in the meantime, they seem quite content spending whatever it takes to get it there.
With a lot of memories and much gratitude for the progress I’ve made in the last couple of weeks, I’m flying home today to start my coaching badges in Dublin on Monday. The FAI have very kindly put on a course to tie in with our club commitments. So, you never know, next week may just see a potential new Ferguson or Mourinho being born — we might as well aim high!
