Prof.dr Cristiano Eirale

Prof. dr. Cristiano Eirale is an Italian sports medicine doctor who primarily deals with pathology, physiology and performance in football. He completed his medical training at the University of Pavia, where he also specialized in Sports Medicine. He worked as a doctor for the first team of Internazionale Milano and then as the Medical Director of the National Football Team of Qatar. He currently works as the main medical coordinator of the Paris Saint-Germain football club, France, and in the Aspetar Department of Sports Medicine. He has published several articles on football injuries, especially on their epidemiology, with a special focus on the characteristics of football in the Middle East.

Report from the online lecture by Dr. Cristiano Eirale

Respected colleagues,

We would like to inform you that the visiting professor, at the invitation of the Department of Sports Medicine, a prominent sports expert, Dr. Cristiano Eirale, held the first in a series of lectures via Zoom platform on Thursday, April 23rd, 2020. The lecture was attended by over 60 experts in the field of sports medicine: researchers, doctoral students, sports medicine specialists, masters, students, but other participants in sports from Serbia, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, Singapore.

In accordance with the current situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Sports Medicine is active in order to better prepare sports doctors for the earliest and safest return of our athletes to the field. That is why practical experiences and evidence based medicine are extremely important to us. Dr. Eirale is a doctor at the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club and an excellent scientist who has just published an editorial in the most prestigious journal in our field, the British Journal of Sports Medicine: Football cannot restart soon during the COVID-19 emergency! A critical perspective from the Italian experience and a call for action.

The topic of his lecture was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the interactive lecture, the listeners could learn about the frequency of COVID-19 infection among athletes, the mode of transmission, the defense mechanisms of the immune system, but also the influence of environmental factors, temperature, and the transmission of the infection. During the lecture, Dr. Eirale presented the latest studies published in eminent journals, with recommendations and results that doctors can use in everyday practice. After the lecture, Dr. Eirale answered the listeners’ questions when and how, based on his experience as a team doctor, a decision should be made on the return of players to the field. We are extremely honored that the lecture was attended by the donor of our Laboratory, a prominent expert prof. Dr. Nebojsa Popovic.

We would also like to inform you that Dr. Cristiano Eirale will continue with online lectures via the Zoom platform. The next lecture will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2020, starting at 5:30 p.m. The topic of the lecture will be about specific tests of athletes to return to the field, as well as the training process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We invite you to join us.

Department of Sports Medicine

Pristupni link za predavanja na Zoom platformi koji je kreirao prof. Eirale

Guidelines on return to sports activities presented by a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, prof. Dr. Cristiano Eirale

The guest lecturer of our faculty held on April 30, 2020. lecture on “Professional sport at the time of Covid: the return to sport” in which he presented the views of the experts in the field of sports medicine on the time and manner of return of elite athletes to sports activities after the SARS CoV2 virus pandemic.

The importance of using viral RNA detection techniques or the immune response to the virus in athletes, before giving consent to return to the field, was especially emphasized. Newly obtained data on the interpretation of the results of PCR methods, but also on the dynamics of the appearance and change of the titer of IgM and IgG antibodies in different phases of infection and recovery from the SARS CoV2 virus are presented. On that occasion, the results of ELISA tests after which it would be advisable for the athlete to return to normal sports activities, were recommended,

In addition to information related to the presence of responses to infection with the current Corona virus, some parameters of the cardiovascular system were pointed, which should be checked before advising athletes on returning to the field. Cardiac evaluation is advised since myocarditis is observed among patients with a more severe clinical picture.

The lecture ended with an interactive discussion with the audience and providing general recommendations on returning to exercise, both in competitive and recreational sports.