In a move which may potentially save the life of a footballer, the T&T Football Association (TTFA) yesterday announced a $3 million partnership with Lab Medica Group which will see every player from all the 10 national teams receive medical screenings along with a host of medical benefits for the next four years.
The TTFA, in a media conference at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain, publicised the new official partnership which will not only benefit footballers but the TTFA itself. According to the CEO of Lab Medica Group, Richard Ramrekha, the TTFA's technical staff will also receive free screening. The players and technical staff will each receive a MyCard Sport card, which offers discounts at doctors' offices, associated clinics and pharmaceutical merchants.
The local governing body for football will also receive $20 for every person who signs up for the MyCard Sport programme through the TTFA.
Ramrekha said MyCard Sport investment will provide all players with medical screenings comprising a doctor's fitness check-up, blood testing (blood count, iron, cholesterol and sugar), a heart test or ECG, a lung test or spirometry and urine testing for various medical conditions. Most of these tests will be conducted on-site using Lab Medica's Medical Lab Unit.
The development will bring relief to many footballers and fans, who were rocked by the untimely deaths of Akeem Adams and Kevon Carter, late last year and early this year, respectively. Both national footballers died as a result of heart attacks.
TTFA's general secretary Sheldon Phillips said, "This development was testament to the progress being sought and achieved by the association."
He added that the need to screen all players was nothing new and should have been part of former administration's routine practices.
TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee thanked the association's new partner and urged corporate T&T to take an interest in the resurgence of national football.
TTFA, yesterday also made public an agreement between the association and Petrotrin, which will see the national senior women's team in a three-week stay at Petrotrin's Beach Camp, located in Palo Seco.
The women's team, which is in preparation for next month's Concacaf final round of World Cup qualifiers, entered the residential camp on Thursday and will remain at the training venue until October 4.
A week before the start of the Concacaf Women's Championship, team T&T will depart for the US to settle in.