Applied Science in Football

Andreas Serner currently works as Research Lead at FIFA and is responsible for the research in the Medical Subdivision. 

Andreas is a physiotherapist from Denmark. He has a Master’s in Medical Science; Sports Science and Sports Medicine, and a PhD in Clinical research with a focus on groin pain in athletes. He has previously worked as clinical research scientist and physiotherapist at Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Qatar, as well as a clinician in a private clinic and both academy and senior football clubs in Denmark.

Head of the Nutritional Departament of Swiss Men’s National Team. Head of the Nutritional Departament of Udinese Calcio, Udine (Italy), and Watford FC, Watford (UK). Technical and clinical director of Pharmacy Molina, in Córdoba (Spain). Member of the research group CTS-595, called Exercise, Health, and High Performance. University Pablo de Olavide (Spain). Scientific advisor of Unifarco SL and Akern SL. Antonio was also a teacher at a lot of different universities in Spain and Mexico. Phd in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences from the University Pablo de Olavide of Sevilla (Spain).

Associate Professor with Aggregation at the University of Beira Interior and physiologist for the National Men's Futsal A Teams. Holding a Futsal Level III coaching certification, he is also an author of numerous books and academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals. His academic qualifications include a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in Sports Sciences from the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon.

Auxiliar Professor at the Faculty of Sports at the University of Porto and Technical Coordinator of the National Youth Males Football Teams (U15-U20). Previously an international scout at FC Barcelona, he served as an assistant coach for the senior national team of Guinea-Bissau and worked with the senior teams of Boavista FC and CD Trofense. His roles included coaching and coordinating youth football at Vitória SC, Leixões SC, SC Espinho, and Boavista FC. Internationally, he contributed to football development in Goa, India, with the Goa Football Association. Furthermore, he collaborated as a game analyst with the senior national teams of Portugal, South Korea, and the Republic of Macedonia. A prolific author, he has written numerous books and academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, he has been a trainer in courses across Europe, North America, and South America. He holds a bachelor's and a doctorate degree in Sports Sciences from the University of Porto and the University of Barcelona, respectively.

Jaime worked as a physical and rehab coach at MadridCFF (1st female spanish league) from 2017 to 2019. During that period he designed and coached the team's strength and conditioning sessions, monitored training load and its response, as well as managed the return to play processes. He has worked in two different periods for the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency. From 2018 to 2019 he worked as secretary of the Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) Committee while in the second stage, from 2021 to 2022, he was in charge of the planning and distribution of controls in individual sports. He has enjoyed a Predoctoral Scholarship from the Community of Madrid that allowed him to start his PhD at the Camilo José Cela University. Since November 2021 he is Physical Trainer in the lower categories (U-15 to U-23) of the Spanish women's national soccer team and from September 2022 to the present. Jaime is also lecturer at Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid and Assistant Professor at the Master in Strenght and Neuromuscular performance at Camilo José Cela University.

His research activity is diverse and has explored fields such as neuromuscular response periods after different training configurations, recovery effects of Foam Roller, the effects of caffeine and p-synephrine as ergogenic aids, as well as analyzing the most demanding passages in womens’ football.

Physiologist of the Portuguese Football Federation. He is the exercise physiologist and strength and conditioning specialist of the Health and Performance Unit from the Portuguese Football Federation. He previously worked as exercise physiologist in Aspetar – Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, in Doha, Qatar. João has a PhD in Sport Sciences from the University of Porto. His research interests are focused on injury prevention, strength and conditioning, and monitoring of training and game loads.

Júlio Costa is a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Portugal Football School, the education and research unit of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). He is member of the health and performance unit and Portugal Football School of the FPF. Júlio has a PhD in Sport Sciences from the University of Porto, and his research interests are focused on exercise physiology, injury prevention, strength and conditioning, and monitoring of training and match loads. Authored and co-authored scientific papers published in national and international peer-reviewed journals and guest lecturer at Universities in Portugal.

Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Croatian National Football Team and Associate Professor at the Department of Kinesiology of Sport in the University of Zagreb. He has been the Head Strength, Conditioning, and Rehabilitation Coach at FC Rostov, FC Zagreb, and the Croatian Basketball Federation. He was also the Head of the Sport Kinesiology Department at the University of Zagreb, and he is considered an expert in Sports Science and Injury Rehabilitation in Football. His academic qualifications include a bachelor's degree in Strength and Conditioning for Young Athletes, a master's degree in Speed, Agility, and Quickness Development, and a PhD in Fitness Profiling and Comparisons in Top-Level Teams from the University of Zagreb.

Lead in Data Analytics and Research, supporting the German Football National Teams, where he provides analysis and reports for various experts in German professional football—this includes talent and coaches identification and development, referees, and many more areas. For more than five years, Pascal has been providing evidence to support sports experts decision making. With a background in mathematics and computer science and a PhD from Tübingen University, he applies machine learning methods to sports data. Pascal also holds a UEFA-A-level coaching license with 10 years experience in semi-professional football.

Paul Balsom is a sports scientist and the Head of UEFAs Fitness for Football Advisory Group. He is a highly experienced high performance football practitioner and pro-qualified coach, with over 25 years of international experience at the highest level of FIFA/UEFA football match activities in both the men’s and women’s game.

He has a successful track record in the effective delivery of best practice performance and enhancing scientific support solutions in professional football with up-to-date knowledge and utilization of latest technologies. And working with large data sets to minimize risk and improve decision making for a variety of stakeholders.

Paul is in his 24th year as the Performance Manager for the Swedish National Men’s team and has participated in 6 UEFA Euro and 3 World Cup final tournaments. In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Sweden reached the quarter-finals. He also currently works as a Performance Advisor in Mexico for Tigres UANL, supporting them in their quest to become one of the most innovative and successful clubs in Latin America.

Paul has also worked at Leicester City for over 10 years and was part of their backroom staff during the 2015-16 season when they became only the 6th team to win the English Premier League.

Graduated in Psychology, with a Master's and Ph.D. in Sports and Exercise Psychology from the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon. Currently serving as a Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Maia. Renowned for authoring of several articles in international journals focusing on psychosocial influences on sports performance. He has practical experience in intervention with athletes, coaches, and referees at various competitive levels, ranging from grassroots to preparation for the Olympic Games. Currently, he is responsible for providing psychological support to professional referees at the Portuguese Football Federation.

Licenciado em Ciências de Nutrição [e Doutorado em Nutrição Clínica], conta com vasta experiência no campo da nutrição no desporto, em particular no Futebol. Em 2002 iniciou funções como nutricionista no departamento de futebol profissional do Vitória Futebol Clube. Desde 2004 é nutricionista no Centro de Medicina e Traumatologia Desportiva da CUF Alvalade, e desde 2021 no Centro de Medicina Desportiva e Performance do Hospital CUF Tejo, onde tem acompanhado atletas profissionais de modalidades como Futebol, Triatlo, Pentatlo, Natação e Atletismo. Desde 2015 é nutricionista da Unidade de Saúde e Performance da Federação Portuguesa de Futebol, sendo responsável pelas estratégias nutricionais de suporte aos atletas das 27 Seleções Nacionais. É ainda docente no curso de Medicina do Futebol da FMUP, Mestrado de Futebol da PFS-FMH, e pós-graduação de Medicina Desportiva da SPMD, entre outros.

Sports Scientist and Physiologist (U19 men's football team) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Professor of Sports Science at University of Maia – ISMAI. Pos-doctoral fellow in the CreativeLab of the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, with the project “Monitoring long-term performance in football during players’ developmental stages”. PhD in Sport Sciences from the University of Porto, Faculty of Sport (FADEUP).

Sebastian is Head of Football Research & Innovation in the applied innovation unit of the German Football Association (DFB-Akademie). Sebastian and the whole team are focused on supporting the coaches, experts and players of the German national teams on- and off-the-pitch - by providing objective, data-driven and evidence-based insights to inform their decision making (intelligence) and by building new products (e.g. digital products, events, certificates) to apply and share the knowledge (solution). Sebastian received a PhD in Business and Economics at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. Prior to joining DFB-Akademie in 2020, Sebastian has gained experience in strategy and management consulting across industries and conducted his PhD as an affiliated researcher at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH).

Dr. Stacey Emmonds is an Associate Professor in Sports Performance at Leeds Beckett University. She has published over 50 research articles in relation to sports performance and football. Stacey currently leads several research partnerships in men's professional football in England as well as leading the FA Demands of the Game Project, which is a league wide project in women's football. Alongside her research role, Stacey also has a number of consultancy roles, including her role as the fitness coach for the England Women's U19s, working as a coach mentor for FIFA in the women's game and also her role on the UEFA for fitness advisory board.

Medical Director and full professor at Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine of Saarland University at Saarbrucken. Chairman of the medical committees of UEFA and the German Football Federation (DFB), member of the Medical Committee of the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB). Meyer´s main areas of research are clinical exercise physiology, sports infectiology, sports cardiology, recovery, and training prescription with a special focus on football. Under his supervision, several training studies have been conducted in elite and recreational athletes (altogether over 250 publications in internationally referenced peer-reviewed journals).

Former top coach and national team coach for 9 years (younger national team - U23). Worked for 12 years as a manager in Olympiatoppen, the elite branch of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic. Now works in The Norwegian Football Federation as top coach developer and responsible for UEFA A masters.

Andersen's research interest is leadership in the coaching role in top football: Has a master's degree in sports science, psychology and coaching from the NIH (National Institutes of Health); "how to lead your coaching team”. Andersen's PhD thesis is about the Management of high-performing cultures in football: a case study of the Norwegian men's national football team, at UiT (The Arctic University of Norway)

Prof. dr. Vincent Gouttebarge is a former professional footballer who played 14 seasons in France and The Netherlands (232 games). He is Extraordinary Professor at the Section Sports Medicine of the University of Pretoria and based at the Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine department of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers. He is also Chief Medical Officer at FIFPRO (Football Players Worldwide). Prof. dr. Gouttebarge’s work focusses on a wide range of sports medicine domains being relevant in professional sports (emphasis on football), striving to protect and promote the physical, mental and social health of active and former professional athletes. He is Chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Mental Health Working Group, co-Director of the IOC Programs on Mental Health in Elite Sport, member of the Medical Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), member of the Medical Committee of the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), member of the Medical Expert Group of the French Professional Football League (LFP), member of the Concussion in Para Sport (CIPS) group, member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Mental Health Working Group and member of the South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA). Prof. dr. Gouttebarge is also member of the Editorial Board of the South African Journal of Sports Medicine.

Dr Kat Okholm Kryger is Medical Researcher at FIFA and Associate Professor in Sports Medicine at St Mary's University, Twickenham (UK). Kat also possesses multiple advisory roles within UEFA and works closely with national associations and clubs to support the growth of women’s football. Her research aims to level the playing field through improved sex-specific evidence-based practice. 

Carolina is currently a post doctorate researcher at St Mary’s University Twickenham, London, looking at improving the translation of scientific evidence into practice in football, in partnership with FIFA.

With a PhD and Master’s in Sport Science focusing on players’ monitoring and recovery, Carolina has previously worked as head of performance in Olympic sports at Flamengo (Brazil) and sport scientist at Minas Tenis Clube (Brazil) with a range of sports, along with lecturing in sport medicine and sports sciences.