(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Swansea City's Ivorian striker, Wilfried Bony, has been receiving treatment at Aspetar, Qatar's world-renowned orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, as part of his rehabilitation programme from a knee injury. Utilising an evidence-based model, Aspetar's experienced practitioners aim to return patients to their pre-injury lifestyle as quickly and safely as possible and has a proven track record of treating regional and international athletes.
The Swansea City striker and the Ivory Coast international ruptured his cruciate ligament in his right knee when he landed awkwardly just moments after coming on as a second-half substitute at Leicester City in February fixture.
Bony, who helped the Elephants, as Ivory Coast are known by their loving fans, win the 2015's African Cup of Nations, spoke to Aspetar team during his stay at the hospital and sounded positive about his return to play soon.
'I am here to experiment and I can see it is going very well. I am very happy here with the way they are working. I've heard a lot about (Aspetar) from my friends, and I've spoken to my colleagues from the Ivory Coast, Lacina Traore and my coach who advised me to come to Aspetar. It is an ideal destination because of the facilities, the way they exercise and (how they provide) treatment. The medical staff are really skilful and this is really helpful for athletes to recover, Bony said.
Speaking on the African players who are currently doing very well in the English Premier League, and whether it suits the African footballers more than other leagues, the Swans, which is Swansea City's Premier League nickname, forward said: 'The Premier League is different and has a lot of technique and rhythm and is aggressive and fast paced. I am very happy about the African players' standard in the league. You can see Mo Salah, Mane, Mahrez there are also players in other top-flight leagues who are doing really well.
With the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia fast approaching, where Africa is represented by five teams, Bony said he wishes to see all African teams go through the final stages: 'We have been (close) to do that in the last few tournaments. Senegal and Nigeria have good teams as well as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. There is a chance to go forward into the knockout stages. We need to see the players recover from their present league duties and try to rest up to be fresh for the tournament in Russia. That's the most important thing.
Speaking about Qatar as a host nation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Ivory Coast international player said: 'I've been here a few times now and they certainly have quality facilities to organise and host a successful FIFA World Cup in 2022. I am sure they will do well and will exceed expectations, and I would love to think I could be here (at the time of competition) either as a player or fan.
In 2009, Aspetar became the first hospital in the Middle East to be accredited by the FIFA Medical and Research Centre (F-MARC) as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. Currently, there are only 41 FIFA-accredited medical centres worldwide.
Aspetar had previously provided medical support to the Ivory Coast and Algeria national football teams that took part at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, and has recently screened the Tunisia national football team players, who will participate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
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