Mubadala-owned Healthpoint and Manchester City in three-year deal

25/11/2014 05:40 AST

Mubadala-owned medical company Healthpoint has agreed to a three-year deal to become Manchester City’s regional healthcare provider and partner.

Healthpoint, which specialises in orthopaedics, sports medicine, and physical therapy, will provide clinical and rehabilitation services to Manchester City footballers.

“This partnership includes traditional giveaways and hospitality rights,” said Healthpoint board member Dr Ihsan Almarzouqi. “But is more than that. We aim to be a partner for clinical excellence and elevate our capabilities in sports medicine.”

Ferran Soriano, Manchester City’s chief executive said: “This partnership has some commercial components, but is basically a partnership on science and innovation.”

“We need to partner with the best institutions in the world to study how the human body works on the football pitch,” he said.

“The top clubs in the world live in a very competitive environment, where sometimes a 5 per cent physical advantage can make the difference.”

Dr Nader Darwich, the medical director of Healthpoint, said that sports science conferences would be held in Abu Dhabi and Manchester as part of the deal.

Healthpoint will hold a three-day football camp for young children in association with the club, while UAE nationals employed by Healthpoint will be able to intern at Manchester City’s football academy.

Dr Almarzouqi said that Healthpoint would benefit from Manchester City’s experience in treating knee injuries.

“Our young population [has a] high incidence of knee surgeries,” Dr Almarzouqi said. “Interactions with sports physicians [in Manchester] will help us to understand causes and to understand rehabilitation and physiotherapy aspects [of knee issues].

Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed.

Healthpoint declined to disclose the value of the deal.

“This place is going to make a lot of people very happy,” Yaya Toure, the Man City midfielder, said in a promotional video for Healthpoint.

The National