Ghana is the venue for next year’s African Cup of Nations and lots of activities would precede Friday’s draw for the 16 nations that have qualified for the 26th edition of the competition.

As Accra gets busy for the pairings, a sports medicine conference got underway Tuesday morning to address issues related to the medical aspect of the sport.

The 2nd CAF Medical Conference on Football Medicine opened with medical representatives across the continent, renowned speakers on sports medicine and CAF medical committee members in attendance.

In his opening speech, the Ghana Football Federation President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, said: “The conference is being organized here at the most opportune time, 3 months away from Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations and at a time when sports medicine has taken centre stage in the technical set-up of most African national football teams."

Welcoming the participants and eminent speakers, Adoum Djibrine Chairman of CAF Medical Committee said: “This is another platform for exchange of information and knowledge in our quest for football development in the area of sports medicine in Africa and the world.”

The conference which is a build-up the previous one held in Cairo, Egypt in 2005 is tagged “Nutrition in Africa, myths and beliefs”.

Over 65 participants, including team physicians from the qualified countries to the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 will attend.

‘The objective of the conference is to find answers to issues related to nutritional habits and beliefs of many African players,” Prof. Hosny Abdelrahman, Vice- president of CAF medical committee said.

According to Prof. Hosny, five highly qualified speakers from Europe and Africa, including CAF medical committee members will deliver papers.

Among the topics that will features in the conference are contemporary research in football, nutrition and football, sudden cardiac death, practical sessions on basic life support and infectious diseases.

A separate section will deal on specialized topics related to doping and nutrition.

This include CAF strategy in the fight against doping; developing a personal plan for players; nutrition in Africa, myths and beliefs; dietary supplements and doping risks; and nutritional supplementation in adolescent soccer players.

The four-day conference ends on Friday, 19 October.